


Room To Grow

by kiyala



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Character Development, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Insecurity, M/M, captain Yahaba
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-31
Updated: 2016-09-01
Packaged: 2018-08-12 05:53:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 50,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7923058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiyala/pseuds/kiyala
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kyoutani and Yahaba have enough on their minds in third year, as ace and captain of the volleyball team, butting heads both on and off the court while trying to improve their game so the team has a shot of winning this year. When they find a puppy abandoned in a park, their lives only get even more complicated.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> First and foremost, I want to thank [Klara](http://common-blackbird.tumblr.com/) for being an amazing, patient and encouraging beta. This fic would not be what it is without her.
> 
> I also want to thank [Stei](http://fromthefarshore.tumblr.com/) for the wonderful art!

The final day of Yahaba's second year of high school is a cold one. Everyone is wearing their blazers, some with scarves wrapped around their necks to fend off the wind that blows through the leaves, the chill from winter still clinging on even though it should be long gone by now.

The third years' noses are red, and the rest of the volleyball club is kind enough to pretend that it's the fault of the cold. Hanamaki's eyes are shining with tears that he hasn't shed yet. Yahaba gives the upperclassmen his most supportive smile. Even though the third years officially retired after their loss at the Spring High, it hasn't really sunk in until now. They've graduated; they're actually leaving. It's a terrifying realisation, that they won't be around any more. From now on, the team rests solidly on the second years' shoulders and Yahaba can feel the pressure already. That isn't even counting the fact that he's the captain now. He has incredibly big shoes to fill and Oikawa is a tough act to follow at the best of times. Yahaba still feels entirely unprepared.

"Now, Yahaba." Oikawa's voice cuts through his thoughts, but Yahaba still startles a little when he feels the hands clap down on his shoulders. "You'll remember what we've been talking about, won't you?"

Yahaba nods firmly. "Of course."

"You were unanimously voted in," Oikawa reminds him. "This role belongs to you."

"You already picked me out for it," Yahaba replies evenly, watching as Oikawa's eyes narrow. "Of course everyone voted for me when you made your opinion on the matter so clear."

"You're giving me too much credit," Oikawa sighs, slinging an arm around Yahaba's shoulder, bag knocking into his side. "You always do, you know. I don't actually have a say in the matter, once I'm gone. The team doesn't have to follow my lead any more. They chose the person best suited for the captaincy. It was an obvious choice."

The only reason that it's an obvious choice is because Yahaba and Watari are the only two out of their grade who have been playing as somewhat regular members, and liberos are automatically disqualified from being captains. That left Yahaba, and honestly, it doesn't matter that he was the only viable option in the end. The unanimous vote still makes him feel pretty good about himself.

"More importantly than that," Oikawa tells him, his voice quieter now, much more serious than it was just a few moments ago. "Remember what we've been going over. Remember what the team is good at, and what its weaknesses are. Technique is good to have, but it's not the be and end all. Keep that in mind."

Yahaba nods in reply. He's seen this very concept put into practice almost every time he's watched the upperclassmen play. They're constantly thinking and analysing, coming up with game plans and adjusting them on the go. It's impressive, even when Yahaba is watching them from the same side of the court. He can only imagine what it must feel like to their opponents.

Patting him on the back, Oikawa hums to himself. "You're pretty sharp anyway. All you need to do is remember to stay calm, and you'll be fine. You've already improved so much in the past few months. The next few months will be even better. There's always room to grow, and it's important to remember that. If you don't grow, the rest of your team won't be able to grow as much as they could, either. No pressure or anything, of course!"

"Of course," Yahaba repeats with a quiet laugh, but he can feel himself relaxing. Oikawa's always been good at that; he's always known exactly what to say. Yahaba wonders if he'll be able to do the same. "Anyway, shouldn't you be enjoying yourself with the rest of the third years? Don't worry about me, Oikawa-san, I'll be fine. Thanks for your help."

Oikawa gently ruffles Yahaba's hair and then he's gone, returning to Iwaizumi's side, already smiling and saying something that makes his best friend's jaw tense. Hanamaki and Matsukawa look up from their conversation as Iwaizumi starts rolling his sleeves up and Yahaba snorts quietly under his breath when Kindaichi jumps in between them to forestall the inevitable argument.

Yahaba glances away, smiling to himself. He pauses when he notices movement on the other side of the school quadrangle, frowning as he tries looking for it again. His frown deepens when he recognises the head of bleached blond hair in between two thin tree trunks.

"I'll be back," Yahaba says, to no one in particular even though he catches Watari nodding. He walks over to the benches at the other end of the quadrangle and quietly clears his throat. "If you've come to say goodbye, they're not going to hear you from all the way over here, you know."

"You never know," Kyoutani mutters. "I'm pretty sure Oikawa would probably hear a butterfly fart on the other side of the school."

"That's a weird and gross mental image," Yahaba complains, folding his arms across his chest. "Come on. Stop skulking around here and actually talk to the seniors. Pretend you have manners for once in your life."

"Why don't you _stop_ pretending you have manners for once in your life," Kyoutani mutters, but he starts walking over to where the rest of the club is gathered before Yahaba can reply. It's just as well that Kyoutani doesn't see the face Yahaba makes at his back.

"Ah, Kyouken-chan came too!" Oikawa greets brightly. "I knew you'd miss me. Wasn't I right, though? Didn't you feel so glad that you got to play on the same team as me?"

Kyoutani looks away, but Yahaba can just barely pick up on his grunt of agreement. "Congratulations on graduating, Iwaizumi-san. Matsukawa-san. Hanamaki-san."

"Hey, hey, what about me?" Oikawa asks, and yelps when Iwaizumi punches his shoulder. "So mean."

"The fact that you're here at all," Iwaizumi says to Kyoutani, "is a pretty clear sign that you've come a long way from when you first joined the team. You'll keep growing too, won't you? Good work, Kyoutani."

Yahaba watches with curiosity as Kyoutani's ears turn pink. Not that Yahaba can blame him; it's difficult not to blush when Iwaizumi's handing out compliments. He's always so sincere about it, always so specific, like he's making it as clear as he can that he's picked up on exactly how everyone's improved. He and Oikawa make a terrifying team, Yahaba thinks to himself, and he's curious to see what it's going to be like without them there. Yahaba already knows most of his teammates well just from spending so much time with them, but he wonders if he can ever manage to be quite as observant as Oikawa is, to be able to pick someone's thoughts apart with nothing more than a brief glance. That seems entirely out of his reach right now, and he isn't sure that any amount of growth is going to change that.

"You," Oikawa says, flicking Yahaba in the forehead, "are thinking negative thoughts, aren't you? Your brow always furrows right here when you're overthinking something."

"Sorry," Yahaba replies, rubbing at the same spot between his eyebrows, and he's honestly not sure whether he's sorry for the negative thoughts, or sorry for being caught. Either way, Oikawa smiles at him. Yahaba smiles back weakly. "It's a bad habit. I'm trying to break it."

"You're too prone to comparing yourself to others," Oikawa scolds lightly. "Kyouken-chan, Watacchi, make sure that your captain doesn't think himself into exhaustion before he's even stepped on the court, won't you? That's not going to be very helpful at all."

Yahaba can feel his face heating, and he shakes his head. "I'll work on that."

"See? That's what I like about you," Oikawa ruffles Yahaba's hair again. "You're always trying to do more, you're always trying to achieve your next goal. As difficult as that might be, you're not going to let that stop you from trying, are you?"

"Not at all," Yahaba smiles. He's had plenty of opportunities to run from this before, or to give up, and plenty of reason to, as well. If he hasn't done it yet, he knows that he's not going to. It doesn't matter how long it takes, but he'll get there. As Oikawa keeps telling him, the only thing that can stop him is if he tells himself that he can't do it.

It's the final day of second year, and Yahaba is still waiting for his moment, still waiting for things to click. At the very least, he knows to keep waiting, to keep trying. In the end, that's the only way anything is going to change.

It's something he reminds himself of, throughout the break before he officially starts his third year. Be patient. Be open. Being captain comes with a certain sense of responsibility and maturity. He's going to prove that beyond being the most obvious choice as captain, he's also the best choice for it. He's going to lead their team to greatness, and it will be something to be proud of. He's going to make sure that he gets through his final year of high school with absolutely no regrets.

Before he gets to any of that, though, he really wants to punch Kyoutani. 

The thing is, Kyoutani's good with the new first years. He's intimidating enough to command respect and maybe a little fear, which seems to be the most common response people have to him anyway, but he doesn't get in the way. He stands in the background, letting Yahaba take charge as captain, or letting the coaches run things. 

Kyoutani is so quiet for the first couple of days at practice that Yahaba spends the entire time frustrated at not being able to read him as well as he's learning to pick up on the moods of the rest of the team. He can't tell if this is a good kind of quiet, or the bad kind. Yahaba is waiting for the criticisms that he's learned to expect, and it makes him uneasy when he doesn't hear them. 

Then, on the third day of practice, Kyoutani's criticisms begin. Luckily, they're far enough away from the first years, who don't hear the way Kyoutani clicks his tongue at a toss that Yahaba sends to him, unhappy with it even before it hits the court on the other side of the net.

"What?" Yahaba asks, narrowing his eyes. He knows that it wasn't the best of tosses, when he wasn't in position to get it high enough, but Kyoutani hit it anyway. 

"You're trying too hard," Kyoutani mutters, picking up another ball and standing back behind the serving line. "At setting the ball. At everything. Stop it." 

He throws the ball for Yahaba to set, cutting off their conversation. Yahaba focuses on the ball, making sure that he's in the right position, tossing it towards Kyoutani. It's better this time, but that does nothing to stop the irritation stirring in Yahaba's veins. 

It's probably because he knows that Kyoutani is right; he _is_ trying too hard. Especially when it comes to Kyoutani.

He's all too aware of the fact that the team needs Kyoutani, and that means that as captain, he needs to do whatever he can to make sure that Kyoutani stays. He knows that he can trust Kyoutani on the court; after the Spring High, he knows that Kyoutani will do whatever he needs to once he's in the game, once he's cleared his head, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the same applies when they're off the court. 

The last thing Yahaba needs, on top of trying to captain the team Oikawa's left behind, is for Kyoutani to decide that he doesn't want to deal with the team again. Yahaba knows that they can continue without him, but he also knows that they won't be as good. 

Watari is waiting for him at the end of practice, even though they live in opposite directions. He gives Yahaba a small, cautious smile. Yahaba sighs heavily, running his fingers through his hair, still damp from sweat. He knows that today's practice didn't go as well as it could have. Luckily, with Coach Mizoguchi taking care of the first years and Coach Irihata keeping an eye on the second years, it wasn't as bad as it could have been. 

"You know," Watari begins, bumping shoulders with Yahaba as they start walking towards the school gate. "I think I knew this already, but I'm really noticing it now. With our seniors, they were all really good friends outside of volleyball, so when it came to practice, they all knew each other already. It's kind of like that for us too, isn't it? Like when we practice serving and receiving together, we can predict what the other's going to do, because we have that experience with each other, and we know what we're both like." 

Yahaba hums. "That's true. Perhaps it's the same with Kindaichi and Kunimi. They've been on the same team and at the same school since the beginning of middle school. They know each other pretty well by now." 

"The first years can't really be helped, because they all come from different schools and don't really seem to know each other yet," Watari says, "but with Kyoutani…"

"We don't know him," Yahaba finishes, his shoulders slumping. "Not the way that we should, huh." 

"I think you know a lot _about_ him," Watari says. "Of anyone in the team, you seem to get Kyoutani the best. You know what he was like back in middle school and you're the best at reading his moods when he's on the court." 

"That's still not the same as actually knowing him, though," Yahaba sighs. He puts his hands in his pockets, slowing his pace as they reach the school gate, so they have a little more time to talk. "But I don't know how to do that. I don't know how to get to know him, or how to be friends with him. He's still so frustrating. If we're not on the court, actually playing, then he's so closed off."

"That's not your responsibility as a captain, though," Watari points out to him. "You might think it is, but you don't actually have to break through Kyoutani's shell and be best friends with him, or whatever. But at least to start off with, you could try doing something about the fact that half the time, it still looks like you're sizing each other up to fight? It's a little scary, and I'm not even a baby first year. Sometimes, he'll follow your movements when you're on the court, like he's ready to start a fight. I've seen you doing the same thing, you know."

"I'm just trying to be aware of him," Yahaba mutters, feeling his ears burn. "It's not like I'd actually fight him. I can't help what my face is doing when I look at him, when he still pisses me off." 

Watari laughs quietly, nudging Yahaba. "Maybe you should be working on that, too. You're usually good at keeping a blank face when you need to, does he really piss you off so much that you can't even keep your usual poker face?"

"You have no idea," Yahaba says lightly, but he can hear the frustrated edge to his own voice. "There's just something about him that gets under my skin. Am I bad captain for saying that about our ace?"

Watari shrugs. "You can't help how you feel. I think it's just a matter of what you do about it. Doing _nothing_ isn't going to help the team at all, and I think you know that."

"I do," Yahaba replies, sighing again before he pats Watari on the shoulder before they walk in opposite directions. "I'll see you tomorrow morning at practice. I'll try and come up with something before then."

 

 

* * *

 

 

There have been rumours and whispered opinions about Aoba Jousai in the air for as long as they've commanded attention, long before Oikawa ever became a starting member, but they've increased in their intensity since then. There are people who believe that without Oikawa, the team would be nothing. It's always irritated Yahaba to no end, because he's always thought of it as a disservice to the rest of the team members, when he knows just how talented they all are. 

He tries to remind himself of the same thing now. It doesn't matter that Oikawa is gone, and it doesn't matter that the rest of the seniors are gone, either. Everyone who is in the volleyball club is here because they're good at what they do. Their reputation calls for a high standard of players, even among the first years, and Yahaba knows that the rest of his team is talented enough and he _knows_ that if he wasn't as good, he wouldn't be there. 

Despite that, it's still difficult to ignore the large divide between his talents as a setter, compared to Oikawa's. If playing alongside Oikawa's talent wasn't enough to make Kyoutani feel like it was worth his while to practice with the team, Yahaba has no idea what he has to offer in its place. 

He approaches Coach Irihata the next morning, hands held firmly behind his back, hiding the way his fingers twist with nervousness. "I want to focus on practicing with Kyoutani more." 

Irihata looks up from his clipboard, raising an eyebrow at Yahaba. "Is that so?" 

"We need to make sure that my sets and his spikes work well together. He's the ace of our team, after all, and if he doesn't trust me to send him the best tosses, our game will fall apart no matter how many strategies we come up with."

Irihata hums in thought, placing his clipboard down on a nearby chair before turning to Yahaba. "I know that Oikawa spent a lot of time teaching you what he knew before he graduated. I'm not sure if he ever told you that he was sometimes prone to comparing himself to players that were better than him."

Yahaba blinks with surprise. "Sir?"

"It's natural, in a competitive environment like this, to want to be the best at what you do," Irihata tells him. "It's natural to feel a sense of disappointment when you don't measure up to what you think you should be. Do you feel that you aren't a good enough setter for Kyoutani to want to play with you? Has he not spiked your sets in the past? Have you not won points from it?"

"I…" Yahaba presses his lips together into a thin line. "That was different. We'll win more points together if we're more familiar with each other's playing styles."

"I'll have you practice with each other, then," Irihata tells him. "But Yahaba, you shouldn't feel that you need to prove yourself to any member of your team. Understood?"

Kyoutani doesn't seem particularly bothered when he shows up for practice a little later and Irihata tells him to focus on practicing with Yahaba. He doesn't really acknowledge Yahaba either, until he picks up a ball and walks over, holding it up.

"You're tossing for me?"

"Yeah," Yahaba replies, taking the ball from Kyoutani's hand. "Tell me what kind of toss you like." 

"Just do it normally," Kyoutani mutters, standing in position. "If it's too high or too low, I'll tell you."

Yahaba breathes out slowly through his nose, and tells himself that it's not worth picking an argument over this. Not when he was the one who specifically asked to practice with Kyoutani. "Fine." 

He sends Kyoutani a high toss, like he normally would for Kindaichi. Kyoutani is more than ten centimetres shorter, and Yahaba knows that he won't miss it entirely, but he won't be able to hit it the way that would for a toss better suited to his height. 

Kyoutani puts more power into his jump, slamming the ball down with his palm and landing heavily on his feet, turning to Yahaba with a frown. "I said to do it normally."

"What was that?" Yahaba asks, watching the ball bounce away on the other side of the net. "I'm not asking you to adjust to my tosses, Kyoutani. I'm asking you what toss will let you hit the ball the best." 

With a shrug, Kyoutani looks down at his hand. "I don't care, as long as I can hit the ball in the end. Just don't send me crappy tosses that I can't hit, and we'll be fine." 

"That's not—" Yahaba cuts himself off with a loud sigh, walking to the ball trolley and picking up another ball. "Fine. Let's go again." 

If Kyoutani isn't going to give him the information he's after, then Yahaba will just find out himself. It's not as easy doing this while he's the one setting, and it makes him wish that he paid more attention to Oikawa's tosses when he practiced with Kyoutani, rather than watching Kyoutani's spikes. It doesn't matter. Yahaba will get there in the end. 

They go through an entire trolley full of balls, and Yahaba still isn't satisfied that he's gotten an answer. There are some tosses that Kyoutani complained about immediately, but they were all for the tosses Yahaba sent purposefully out of his comfort zone. He looked perfectly comfortable hitting the rest, no matter whether they were high or low. 

Irihata is watching them, arms folded across his chest, a thoughtful expression on his face. Yahaba doesn't stop to wonder what it's about, telling Kyoutani to help him collect the balls from the other side of the court so that they can keep going. 

Kyoutani has more control over his body than most people Yahaba has seen. He can adjust the power he puts into his jump, into his spike, and it seems to be instinctive, rather than being something he puts actual thought into. Yahaba can't help the small tug of jealousy at that. He hates that Kyoutani has all of this natural talent, while Yahaba feels like he has to scramble in order to keep up. He hates that this is just something that Kyoutani takes for granted, rather than putting thought into how he can use it to their advantage. 

It'll have to be Yahaba's responsibility, then. He'll have to come up with a way to use Kyoutani to bring out his full potential. The only problem there is that despite Kyoutani hitting most of his tosses, none of it feels natural. Yahaba can't help but feel like they're forcing things and he hates it. None of this feels genuine, none of it feels like it'll stand up in a proper game when they still don't trust each other properly, when they don't communicate with each other the way that Yahaba knows that they should. 

It makes Yahaba feel like he's failing as a captain, when the rift between him and his ace is so obvious. He's certain that the first years are picking up on it already, and he still doesn't know what to do about it when this attempt doesn't seem to have made any impact. 

Irihata takes Yahaba aside once he dismisses the rest of the team after practice is done, folding his arms across his chest.

"You were trying to achieve something when you were practicing with Kyoutani," Irihata says. "What was it?"

"I wanted to know how to match my tosses to his spikes," Yahaba replies. "I wanted to know what he felt most comfortable spiking, but I couldn't get an answer out of him. I told him to stop adjusting his spikes to my tosses so I could adjust my tosses to his spikes instead, but he didn't listen."

"So then, when he didn't do as you asked," Irihata says, "you began sending him different kinds of tosses, to see if he could hit them. Lower, higher, close to the net, further away from the net. You tried everything, didn't you?" 

"I…" Yahaba averts his gaze, nodding. "I did." 

"You were testing him," Irihata tells him. "Which is different to trying to gauge his ability. If I could notice that from the sidelines, don't you think that Kyoutani would have noticed it too? How do you think it would feel for him, to have the team's setter still feel like they need to test him, after all this time?" 

Yahaba feels his ears burn as he thinks back to how Kyoutani left the gymnasium without a word the moment they were dismissed from practice. "Oh."

"Your intentions were good, and I think you started off well." Irihata folds his arms across his chest. "It's just a matter of your approach. I know, from the Spring High, that you know how to handle Kyoutani when he's unfocused. You need to find a way to handle him when he _is_ focused. It's not something that I, or Coach Mizoguchi, or anyone else can step in and take care of instead. Perhaps instead of testing his spikes against your tosses, you should try testing your tosses against his spikes. If he can't tell you what toss he wants, you need to get a feel for it yourself. You'll manage that by making small adjustments with each toss, not following a high toss with a low toss. All that tells you is that Kyoutani can hit both, and that's information you already have." 

Yahaba can't help but feel ashamed, and he bows his head slightly. "Thank you." 

"I'm sure Oikawa told you that our team comes up with plays based on analysing the game." Irihata gives Yahaba an encouraging smile. "Just remember that the opponents aren't the only ones worth analysing." 

"Yes, sir." Yahaba bows lower this time, before he leaves. "I appreciate the advice."

 

 

* * *

 

 

"We're practicing together again," Yahaba tells Kyoutani that afternoon, and all he gets in reply is a quiet grunt.

Kyoutani gets a ball trolley and takes it over to the end court, though, and Yahaba follows him.

"More of the same?" Kyoutani asks. "You're going to make me hit whatever toss you send me, right?"

"I'm going to find a toss that works for both of us," Yahaba replies. "You're going to have to give me some feedback, okay? This isn't going to work without you telling me what you're thinking."

"Yeah," Kyoutani replies with a shrug. "Sure."

Yahaba starts off with a standard toss that Kyoutani can hit comfortably. He doesn't need to jump too high for it and he doesn't swing back very far before hitting it. Kyoutani clicks his tongue when he lands, glancing over at Yahaba.

"That's not good enough. I can't get enough power with that kind of toss. Either you need to do it slower or higher. Let me get a run up to it."

"You know that not every spike you make needs to be a big, violent one, right? It's still just one point. Same as any other spike." Yahaba picks up another ball. "You'll have more control over your spikes."

"I didn't ask you for advice about spiking," Kyoutani snaps. "What's the point of telling you what kind of tosses I want if you're just going to argue with me about it?"

Yahaba sighs. "Okay, fine, we'll do it your way."

"It's not about that," Kyoutani mutters, but he just shakes his head and stands ready again. "Whatever. Give me another."

Yahaba tosses the ball higher this time, watching as Kyoutani curls in on himself as he jumps and then unwinds, slapping his palm against the ball.

"Like that?" Yahaba asks, and Kyoutani hums in agreement. "We'll practice it more, then."

Yahaba's setting isn't quite as consistent as he'd like. Some of them don't get quite as high as Kyoutani would like, even though he hits them anyway. Kyoutani isn't happy with it, though, and that only makes Yahaba's frustration worse. Kyoutani isn't patient at the best of times, but it grates on Yahaba now when he doesn't even try to hide it.

"That's enough," Yahaba says, when they've gone through one ball trolley. "Go see Irihata or something. I'll clean these up."

"I'm not leaving you to take care of it yourself," Kyoutani mutters, walking over to the other side of the court to start picking balls up. "I'm not a dick, you know."

"Didn't say you were," Yahaba replies, following him.

"Yeah, but you don't have to." Kyoutani picks up a ball in each hand, throwing them into the ball trolley. "It's kind of obvious."

He leaves Yahaba standing there and blinking at him. The worst part, Yahaba realises, is that he's right. Maybe it's the fact that he's seen Kyoutani at his worst, back when he first decided that the team wasn't worth his time. Maybe Yahaba's being too quick to jump to conclusions, but he still doesn't know what to expect of Kyoutani and he doesn't like the way it makes him feel like he can't do his job properly.

"Hey," Kyoutani calls, when they've finished gathering the balls back into the trolley. "Are you tossing to me or not?"

"I told you to talk to Irihata―"

"Are you giving up that quickly?" Kyoutani asks, not quite looking at Yahaba as he shakes his head. "That was a pretty weak effort, you know."

"Fuck you," Yahaba mutters, turning back to Kyoutani and taking a ball out of the trolley.

"Language." Kyoutani raises an eyebrow. "Here I thought you were meant to be the well-behaved one and I was meant to be the delinquent. Isn't that what you have worked out in your head? Or are you already getting sick of being so fake?"

Yahaba narrows his eyes at Kyoutani. "Do you want me to toss or not?"

Growling under his breath, Kyoutani gestures for Yahaba to go ahead. Yahaba grits his teeth together, hating the fact that things always feel so forced between them. Maybe it's impossible to ever get as friendly with Kyoutani as their seniors were with each other, but that shouldn't matter. Yahaba at least wants something more than the constant antagonism between them, but even that seems impossible to shake. 

He doesn't know if he's going to survive an entire year of this. What he _does_ know is that the team isn't, and if it falls apart under his watch, it doesn't matter who else was involved. It's going to be his fault.

It's with these thoughts in mind that he sends Kyoutani a toss, too fast, too low, that ends up glancing off his cheek, disrupting his rhythm and making him fall to the floor with a loud crash.

"Shit," Yahaba mutters, moving to Kyoutani's side. He reaches a hand out. "Are you okay?"

Kyoutani knocks his hand aside, getting up on his own. There's an anger burning in his eyes that nearly makes Yahaba take a step back, a red mark on his face where the volleyball hit him. Yahaba vaguely registers the others on the team stopping to watch, once they've realised what's happening. 

"That was an accident," Yahaba says quietly. "I wasn't paying attention and—"

"I know," Kyoutani cuts him off. He rubs his cheek with the back of his hand, his eyes narrowing. "That's the problem with your shitty tosses. You blame it on things like the fact that you don't have enough skill, or you don't know what kind of toss to send, but that's not it. You're not paying attention to what's in front of you when you've got a million other things running through your mind. You're being half-assed about it. That isn't going to get you anywhere, and it's not going to help the rest of the team either."

"Don't," Yahaba growls out, taking a step towards Kyoutani, but Watari's there before he even realises, standing in between them. 

"Hey! Kyoutani, are you okay? That was a loud crash when you fell, did you hurt anything?" Watari puts his hands on Kyoutani's arms, turning him so his back is to Yahaba, checking him for injuries. "You don't need an ice pack or anything, do you?"

"Get off me," Kyoutani mutters, but he makes no move to push Watari away. "I'm fine. I didn't hurt anything." 

"How about you, Yahaba?" Watari asks. "Maybe you should have a quick break and drink some water or something, yeah?"

Yahaba knows to take a hint and he nods, mumbling his thanks before walking over to the side of the court where they have their water bottles, taking a long sip. When he puts his bottle down, Irihata is standing there, arms folded across his chest. He doesn't say anything, but he doesn't need to. Yahaba sighs, but makes sure not to let his shoulders slump in front of the rest of the team. 

"It's not going to help if you force things," Irihata tells him. "This sort of thing needs to develop on its own."

"I know," Yahaba replies, because he _does_. He just can't help feeling impatient about it all the same. "I'm sorry."

"I don't think I'm the person you need to be apologising to," Irihata says. He nods in Kyoutani's direction. Watari's gone, and Kyoutani is waiting by the ball trolley on his own, hands by his sides. "Go and try again. It's not in your nature to give up."

Standing a little straighter, Yahaba takes a deep breath. "No, sir. It's not."

 

 

* * *

 

 

Yahaba starts practicing with Kyoutani on a regular basis. Every morning and every afternoon, they do their regular drills with the rest of the team before then breaking off to work together. Yahaba hates it. 

Practicing with Kyoutani is still hit or miss for them; Yahaba still doesn't have the consistency that he wants, and Kyoutani's criticism is never constructive enough to do anything about it. They end up snapping at each other and trying again, only to get more frustrated with each other with each round. 

"Why is this such a difficult concept for you to grasp?" Yahaba mutters, as Kyoutani picks up a ball to throw to him for the next toss. "If you want something, ask for it."

"If I ask for something," Kyoutani replies, "there's about a fifty percent chance that you're actually capable of tossing it that way. I don't really see the point."

"I'm trying, damn it," Yahaba snaps. "I'm not going to magically turn into the kind of setter you want, okay? I need to practice, and I need to know _what_ to practice, so I can actually get there. We've been doing higher sets all afternoon and you're still not happy." 

It's true; the rest of the team has already left, except for Watari and Kindaichi, who are practicing spiking and receiving together. It's late, Yahaba is tired, but he's determined to get at least five sets and spikes in a row that both of them are happy with before they head home. So far, they've only gotten to three. 

There's no quick solution for the consistency in Yahaba's tosses and he knows that, but the frustrating thing is that he has no gauge for whether or not he's getting better at it without having someone to give him feedback about it. Kyoutani, for all of his faults, is the best person to be practicing this with because he's the one most likely to give him honest feedback. It's just that while Yahaba wants Kyoutani's honesty, he could really do without everything else. 

"Well, half the time, it feels like you don't even want me spiking the ball," Kyoutani replies, tightening his grip on the ball in his hands. "It's like you're tossing it and hoping I'll miss, or I'll fumble. Why the hell would I feel satisfied spiking a toss like that? Why the hell do you want to see me fail, anyway?"

"I don't want to see you fail." Yahaba frowns. "It's not like you're _going_ to fail, anyway. You're too talented for that, aren't you? You've got the instincts to hit the ball, no matter how it's sent towards you. You've even got the reflexes for it. I'm never going to see you mess up, so why would I waste my time trying to make you do that? Besides, you're part of this team, whether you realise that or not. I'm not going to set my own teammates up for failure, even if it's you."

"Even if it's me?" Kyoutani narrows his eyes. "I _know_ that this is my team. I'm playing with my teammates. How would you think I've managed to miss that, after all this time? You're the one who keeps treating me like I'm not part of the team. Like I'm just going to leave you all in the dust."

"Well, you've done it before, haven't you?" This is feeling a little too personal for Yahaba, instead of being about the state of their current team, but he doesn't think that he can stop himself. "I saw you walk away from the team, even after they gave you a position as a starting member, back in first year. Why would I believe that you'd be any different now? You're meant to be the team's ace but—"

"You don't trust me," Kyoutani finishes for him. "That's the problem, isn't it? You're comparing me to what I was like two years ago. You think that I'm still going to act like that? Like people don't change in that much time?"

"Am I meant to believe that you actually _care_ about the team?"

" _Yes_." Kyoutani raises his voice, dropping the ball and letting it bounce away as he balls his hands into fists. "What the hell, Yahaba. This is my team. I'm the _ace_. I'm not going to up and leave just because teamwork is difficult. I'm practicing with you every single day and even that hasn't made me want to leave, what kind of person do you think I am?"

"What is _that_ supposed to mean?" Yahaba asks, scowling.

"You know exactly what I mean," Kyoutani replies. "You're the one who's been making every effort to make me feel like I'm not welcome on this team but guess what? I'm still here. You're going to have to deal with it."

"I don't—" Yahaba blinks in confusion. "I'm not trying to make you feel that way."

Kyoutani frowns at him, before looking away. "Well, you're succeeding anyway. Congrats, or whatever." 

"Kyoutani," Yahaba begins, then pauses to gather his thoughts. He wets his lips, holding Kyoutani's gaze. "I _want_ you to be on this team. I want _you_ to want to be part of this team. I don't want you gone. I don't want you to even be thinking about leaving, okay? I want this team to be good enough for you."

"It is," Kyoutani replies. "Why? Isn't it good enough for you?" 

"Of course not," Yahaba laughs hollowly. " _I'm_ not good enough for myself. We can't even get through a good amount of tosses and spikes before we start arguing. In what world is this considered to be _good enough_? I don't even feel like a good enough setter for you."

Kyoutani stands there and stares at him with surprise. Yahaba shifts uncomfortably, but holds his gaze all the same. 

Sighing loudly, Kyoutani looks away, rubbing his hand over his short hair. "Is this what Oikawa meant when he graduated? About not letting you think so hard that you exhaust yourself? Because it's exhausting _me_. You're trying, okay? You're doing the right things to get better. I just—I thought you hated me, is all." 

"I don't hate you," Yahaba sighs. "Sometimes, I'm jealous of you, because you make everything look so damn _easy_ all the time. But I don't hate you. I definitely don't want to see you fail. I just want you to feel like this is a good team, I want us all to feel like we can get better." 

"Of course we can," Kyoutani says, like it's the most obvious thing in the world, and Yahaba wants to laugh, either out of frustration, amusement, or both. "If we're all trying, and we don't hate each other, and we're not at each other's throats, then of course we can get better." 

Yahaba takes a deep breath, suddenly feeling like an immense weight has been lifted from his shoulders. "Yeah. You're right about that. …Did you really think I hated you?"

"You're always yelling at me," Kyoutani shrugs. "You threw me against a wall that one time. What else was I meant to think? I don't see you doing that to anyone else here." 

"Well, I don't see anyone else getting caught up in the small things and wasting their potential," Yahaba replies.

"I do," Kyoutani tells him. "I'm looking at him right now. Do I need to throw you against a wall too, before you get it?"

It takes a moment, but Yahaba notices Kyoutani's raised eyebrow, the way he doesn't look as serious as he usually does. With a quiet snort, Yahaba shakes his head. "You don't need to do that."

"You sure?" Kyoutani takes hold of Yahaba's shirt loosely, tugging just a little. "There's a wall right there." 

"I can't believe you can make jokes," Yahaba says, holding Kyoutani's wrist still.

"I can do a lot of things," Kyoutani replies, letting go of Yahaba's shirt. "Maybe you should learn to stop making assumptions." 

"Maybe," Yahaba agrees, letting his shoulders slump as he exhales. He notices Watari and Kindaichi get back to their own practice on their court, trying not to be obvious about the fact that they were watching. Yahaba lets out an amused huff and straightens up. "Come on. Let's try a few more tosses. I think we might get somewhere this time."


	2. Chapter 2

Yahaba is surprised at how much of an improvement they make after talking to each other. It finally feels like they're on the same page, about where they stand with each other as well as what they're expecting of each other and now, with all of that cleared up, it's no longer getting in the way of their game. 

Yahaba puts his full focus into his tosses, and Kyoutani responds in kind when he spikes them, and it's a good feeling to hear the ball slam against the court on the other side of the net, to hear Kyoutani's quiet exhale of satisfaction. It's incredible to know that he's playing an important role in all of that. 

He's not the only one who sees it, either. Irihata stands by the side of their court at their next round of practice, the next morning, and he nods in satisfaction at both of them as they're collecting the balls on the other side of the court. The rest of the team seems to settle a bit too, just from the fact that Yahaba and Kyoutani aren't butting heads quite as often any more and it makes Yahaba feel a little ashamed, to know that he was affecting the mood of the team so much, but he's glad that they've found a way past it.

He and Kyoutani still aren't friends, but they can see eye to eye, and that itself feels like a big step. 

With Kyoutani giving Yahaba feedback more often and both of them putting all of their effort into making their dynamic work, it no longer feels quite so forced and Yahaba can feel the way that it's helping him work on his tosses. He isn't quite so resentful when he sends Kyoutani a toss that's a little too short or a little too fast only to have it spiked anyway. Kyoutani isn't quite so dismissive of Yahaba's mistakes, and with their dynamic established, they can now move on to expanding their skill set, trying new things with each other, trusting each other to improve together. 

"You look a lot happier," Watari says, at the end of the first week back at school. "I was worried that the pressure of being captain was getting to you, and then there were those issues with Kyoutani, but it looks like you've sorted yourselves out now."

"Yeah," Yahaba smiles. "We got there in the end." 

"Me and Kindaichi saw you arguing the other day," Watari says. "You know, that day when the four of us stayed late to practice in the afternoon?" 

"I saw you," Yahaba replies, nodding. "I think that argument helped. It's good to let things out sometimes, I guess, instead of bottling them up. It helps to make sure that everyone's on the same page as each other. I have to stop making so many assumptions about Kyoutani and what he's thinking. Maybe if I do that, he'll stop making assumptions about me, too." 

"That sounds really good," Watari says brightly. "I'm really glad that you're getting there. It's good to see some progress. Hey, I think the girls' basketball team is still at the court. Apparently they've got a practice match against another school. Want to see how they're doing?" 

Yahaba grins, letting Watari lead the way. Their basketball team isn't too popular, but there are still a few people on the upper level, leaning against the balcony and watching them play. Yahaba and Watari squeeze their way between them to watch, and a glance at the scoreboard says that their team is winning. 

The center of the team is a tall girl with long hair pulled up into a ponytail, and she currently has the ball, dribbling it between the opponents before taking a shot. She makes it, and the small crowd cheers, her teammates slapping her on the back. 

It's a nice team environment, Yahaba thinks to himself, already comparing it to his own team. They're just as supportive of each other and he likes that. He knows that they have each other's backs, Kyoutani included, and it's he takes comfort in that knowledge. They'll prove that Aoba Jousai, even without Oikawa, is a team to be feared and respected, and they're going to do it together. 

His attention slips from the game, looking back at the court whenever he hears everyone else cheer, already devising strategies and new practice regimens. He's going to have to look for a setter among the first years, considering none of the second years seem to be particularly interested in the position. They're going to need to look for a libero too, so that he and Watari can work with them and get them ready by the end of their third year, but that seems so far away now and planning for it feels like too abstract a concept. The first years are playing matches against each other and it's been interesting to watch them, to pick out the ones who seem like they'll contribute most to the current team, while Mizoguchi focuses on drilling the basics into the ones a bit further behind the pack. With their current team, they have three starting positions to fill, then the reserves. There are already two first years that Yahaba thinks might work well as setters, and he's already spoken to Irihata and Mizoguchi about having them play opposite each other in the next first year match. He's curious to see how they'll play as the teams are shuffled around them, which wing spikers they work best with, what kind of play style they'll settle into.

There's a lot to do, and now that Yahaba isn't so wrapped up in his concerns about Kyoutani's approach to the team, he can focus on everything else.

"Yahaba," Watari calls, pulling him out of his thoughts. "Are you in there? The game's over! Our team won with a buzzer beater! I can't believe you missed it."

"Huh?" Yahaba blinks, looking down at the court, where the Aoba Jousai team are hugging each other and cheering. "Oh, sorry. I was thinking about tomorrow's practice."

"Honestly," Watari rolls his eyes. "I thought this would be a nice break for you. Oikawa-san was right, wasn't he? We need to make sure you don't get lost in your thoughts."

"It's not that bad," Yahaba protests. "I was just thinking about the first years. I'm thinking of a couple that might make good reserves, but I'm curious about who Irihata and Mizoguchi will select as starters. We should start having practice matches soon, too. I'm already looking forward to it."

Watari grins as they approach the school gate. "Yeah. Me too. Whoever it is, we'll beat them for sure. I'll see you tomorrow, yeah?"

Yahaba waves at Watari, walking home. There's a cold breeze this afternoon, and it's a bit of a walk, so Yahaba drops by the convenience store along the way to pick up something to keep him warm.

He heads to the back of the store, where the warm food is, and pauses with surprise when he sees Kyoutani standing in front of the display.

"Oh. Hey," Yahaba greets, stepping around Kyoutani to pick up a warm bun. "Didn't know you lived in this direction."

"Yeah," Kyoutani replies. He hesitates for a moment, then nods at Yahaba, taking his packets of karaage to the counter. "Uh. See you tomorrow."

Yahaba takes his time before he goes to the counter, just because he doesn't want Kyoutani to feel like he's being followed. By the time he finishes eating and steps back out onto the street, he sees the back of Kyoutani's head disappearing just over the hill, still walking in Yahaba's direction.

They've never bumped into each other before, but then Yahaba isn't usually walking home this late, and there are parks he cuts through while the sun is still up. Still, Yahaba thinks. It's the kind of thing that he should have noticed before.

They seem to turn off in different directions on the other side of the hill, because Yahaba doesn't see Kyoutani after that. He shrugs it off, putting his hands in his pockets and hunching his shoulders against the cold, and walks the rest of the way home.

 

 

* * *

 

 

They have their first practice match against a neighbouring school halfway through their second week. Yahaba is satisfied with the first years that are selected to fill the gaps in their starting lineup, including a middle blocker who is nearly the same height as Kindaichi. He's not particularly experienced yet, but Mizoguchi has been especially hard on him to make sure he's ready for the match. 

"The team's underestimating us," Kyoutani mutters, hovering by Yahaba's shoulder, as they get ready to get onto the court. "I could hear them talking earlier, about how they can take it easy because Oikawa's not here any more. Ready to prove them wrong?"

Yahaba grins, calling the rest of the team over so he can give them a brief speech. He keeps it simple, letting the rest of them know that they're being underestimated, glad for the way it sparks irritation in Kunimi, just as it makes Kindaichi more determined. "Let's go and show them that they're wrong, hm?"

The rest of the team shouts in agreement, and Yahaba struggles to keep the smile off his face when they win in two straight sets. Their team is still technically sound, with or without the seniors. It helps Yahaba feel a little more settled too, and he can play with confidence, knowing that the rest of his teammates with follow through. 

He isn't satisfied with the victory, though, ready to push himself further. When Yahaba starts staying late during afternoon practices, Watari does too. Kyoutani, to Yahaba's surprise, stays late as well. Sometimes, the three of them practice together, with Watari practicing his receives against Yahaba and Kyoutani's attacks, and sometimes, they practice by themselves. 

Kyoutani works on his serve, trying to find the right balance between power and accuracy. It's not quite as fearsome as Oikawa's killer serve, but Yahaba knows how powerful Kyoutani's spikes can be. If he can combine that same technique with a serve, without any blockers to stop him, Yahaba is certain that it will be devastating anyway. 

Yahaba's serves aren't quite as powerful. He doesn't have the same kind of power to put into them, but he's happy to focus on his accuracy instead. As far as he's concerned, the more control he has over the ball in general, the better. He might not be able to send tosses with pinpoint accuracy to wherever his spikers jump but that's honestly not something that he's ever intended to learn how to do anyway. He's happy knowing what kind of tosses his teammates want from him, what kind of spikes they're most comfortable with, and he'll go from there. 

When they pack up and go home at the same time, Yahaba ends up walking in the same direction as Kyoutani. They're quiet, walking side by side, wordlessly deciding to drop by the convenience store for a snack before walking the rest of the way home.

It becomes a regular occurrence. The three of them will practice together and then, when they're done, Yahaba and Kyoutani walk home together, stopping for a snack at the convenience store before walking the rest of the way. The next Monday, even though it's their day off from practice, Yahaba finds himself falling into step with Kyoutani anyway. They nod at each other in greeting, the silence between them feeling companionable and familiar, even though the walk feels different with the sun still in the sky, even if it's mostly blocked out by the heavy rainclouds still lingering after an earlier storm. 

They're walking past a park, just before their paths split off into different directions, when Kyoutani suddenly freezes.

"Do you hear that?" 

Yahaba frowns. "What?"

"I heard—" Kyoutani falls silent, his brow furrowing in concentration. "This way." 

He walks into the park, empty because the benches and play equipment is still wet, and Yahaba follows behind. 

"Kyoutani, what are you doing?" 

"I heard crying," Kyoutani explains over his shoulder, picking up his pace. "Can't you hear it?"

Yahaba listens out, frowning when he hears a soft whimper. "Yeah. Where is it coming from?"

"Here, I think," Kyoutani leads the way to the back corner of the park. He stops in his tracks, making Yahaba collide with him. "Shit, Yahaba—"

Looking over Kyoutani's shoulder, Yahaba's eyes go wide when he sees a small cardboard box, tucked away beside a bush. He hears another whimper, coming from inside it, and Kyoutani immediately steps closer, picking the box up and swearing under his breath. 

"Yahaba, there's a puppy in here." 

"Is it okay?"

"It's tiny," Kyoutani says, his voice quiet. "Probably just a baby. Here, hold my bag." 

Yahaba reaches out as Kyoutani hands his bag over, and watches him take his jacket off. He's kneeling in the wet grass, his jacket opened up over his lap, and he gingerly reaches into the box, lifting a small, black Shiba Inu puppy out of it. 

"She's drenched," Kyoutani whispers angrily. "She was left out in the rain." 

"Here," Yahaba says, opening the zipper of his own bag and pulling his towel out. "Dry her off with this before you wrap her up in your jacket."

"She's shivering." Kyoutani sounds a little panicked as he gently towels the puppy dry. "We need to dry her off properly. Can you help me take her to my place?"

"Sure," Yahaba replies, slinging both their bags over his shoulders. "Lead the way."

It's a short walk from the park. Kyoutani doesn't live too far from where he and Yahaba part ways. Kyoutani has the puppy wrapped in his jacket, holding her close to him with one hand as he unlocks the door with the other. He kicks his shoes off, leading the way further into the house with a quiet, "This way." 

Yahaba takes his shoes off too, leaving their bags by the door but taking his towel along with him just in case. Kyoutani puts the puppy down on the coffee table in the sitting room, looking up at Yahaba.

"Can you keep an eye on her? I'll get the hair dryer out so that she can get dry quicker. Keep towelling her off, maybe." 

Yahaba nods, waiting for Kyoutani to return and plug the hair dryer into the nearest outlet. He holds the puppy still as she squirms away from the loud noise of the hair dryer, patting her gently and combing his fingers through her fur to help it dry quicker. She's still trembling when Kyoutani turns the hair dryer off and puts it aside, but her fur is warm to the touch. 

"I'm sorry," Kyoutani murmurs, in the softest voice Yahaba has ever heard, reaching out to stroke his fingers through the fur on the top of the puppy's head. "Didn't mean to scare you." 

"I can't believe she was left out in the rain," Yahaba mutters, shaking his head, and Kyoutani frowns, looking furious for a moment. "What do we do? Do we need to take her to a vet? To a shelter?"

"We're not taking her to a shelter," Kyoutani says firmly. 

"She's not a lost dog," Yahaba points out, frowning. "We have to do _something_. We can't just leave her."

"Well, right now," Kyoutani says, as the puppy begins to squirm, "she needs to pee. Let's take her outside." 

Picking her up, Kyoutani takes her out into the backyard. Yahaba follows, looking around to find that Kyoutani's backyard is a decent size. There's a lot of space, with grass at one end and shelter just by the door.

"Why don't you keep her?" Yahaba asks, watching as Kyoutani places the puppy down in the grass, letting her sniff around.

"Can't," Kyoutani shakes his head. "We used to have a dog, but he died three years ago. My parents have been against getting another one ever since then. Trust me, I've asked. I mean, I'll ask again, but I'm pretty sure I know what the answer's going to be. Can you keep her?"

"I live in an apartment," Yahaba replies. "No pets allowed." 

"Damn it," Kyoutani mutters. "I want to do _something_. I don't want to leave her on her own." 

Yahaba's about to suggest asking around the volleyball club, when he hears an elderly woman speak up from the other side of the fence. "Ken-chan? Is that you?"

_Ken-chan_? Yahaba mouths, raising an eyebrow, and Kyoutani scowls, his ears turning pink as he turns to the fence. "Mori-san, hi. Yeah, it's me." 

"I was in my garden, and I overheard you," Mori-san says. "What's the problem?"

"We found a puppy abandoned in the rain," Kyoutani replies, carefully picking the puppy up once she's finished. "She was just left in a box, out in the rain, so we brought her here to dry her off. I don't want to leave her on her own."

"On her own in the rain? Bring her here so I can take a look at her."

Kyoutani glances at Yahaba, then leads the way out of his house and over to his neighbour's.

Mori-san, when she meets them at the door, is an short woman with a kind smile and wispy grey hair pulled up into a bun. There are two small dogs at her heels, and she opens the door to let them in, taking the puppy from Kyoutani's arms.

"You did a good job drying her off," Mori-san tells them, combing her fingers through the puppy's fur. "She's lucky you found her. Poor thing." 

"What do I do?" Kyoutani asks, as she sits them down at her kitchen table and pours them tea. "She needs a home. I want to take care of her."

"You're a good boy, Ken-chan," Mori-san says fondly. "And I'm sorry, who's your handsome friend here?"

Yahaba smiles at Mori-san, bowing. "I'm Yahaba Shigeru, I'm on the volleyball team with Kyoutani."

"Shigeru-kun, you're very kind too. I'm glad Ken-chan has such good people as friends." 

Kyoutani's ears turn a brighter shade of pink, but he doesn't say anything. Mori-san chuckles fondly, patting him on the shoulder.

"If she needs a home, I'm willing to take her," she tells them. She looks at Kyoutani. "But Ken-chan, I have a feeling you won't quite be satisfied with that."

"I want to take care of her," Kyoutani repeats, sighing over his cup of tea. "I'll ask my parents. If they say no, then…"

"Then I'll give her a home," Mori-san tells them. "You can visit her as much as you want."

"I'll take care of her as much as I can," Kyoutani says. "Even if she needs to stay here. I'll walk her, I'll train her, I'll do whatever she needs."

"I'll help too," Yahaba speaks up, nodding when Kyoutani looks over at him. "We both found her. I'll do what I can too, okay?" 

Kyoutani nods, and Yahaba thinks he sees the hint of a smile. "Yeah. Thanks."

"Have you given her a name yet?" Mori-san asks, scratching behind the puppy's ear. 

"Not yet," Kyoutani replies, glancing at Yahaba. "What do you think?"

Yahaba hums in thought. "…What about Saorin?"

Kyoutani blink at him with surprise, before he grins. "As in, after the volleyball player? That's what I was thinking too, actually. Nice."

"Saorin it is," Yahaba smiles. "Let me know what your parents say, okay? Thank you, Mori-san, for your help."

"Of course," Mori-san replies, picking up her teapot. "Have more tea. I'll let Saorin meet Jun and Yuzu." 

Yahaba and Kyoutani both watch as Mori-san puts Saorin down near her own dogs. They're both small and fluffy, but Saorin is still small next to them. They're calm as they sniff her and let her sniff them in return, and Yahaba is glad that they seem to get along. 

They finish their tea, leaving Saorin with Mori-san for now until Kyoutani can ask his parents about keeping her. They go back to Kyoutani's place so that Yahaba can pick his bag up, before Kyoutani walks him out to the street. 

"Thanks for helping," Kyoutani tells him seriously. "You're a good guy, Yahaba."

"So are you," Yahaba replies. "Tell me what your parents say, okay? I was being serious when I said I'd help. I'll help walk her too, I can buy food for her. Whatever I can do to make up for not being able to keep her."

"It's not your fault you're not allowed to have pets," Kyoutani replies, shaking his head. "I'll talk to you tomorrow morning at practice, okay? I'll let you know how things go."

"Good luck," Yahaba says, turning to leave as Kyoutani nods in thanks.

 

 

* * *

 

 

The next morning, Kyoutani shows up to practice almost as early as Yahaba does. There's no one else around just yet, including the coaches, so Kyoutani walks over to him, frowning.

"My parents are still pretty firm on not having any more dogs," he says, his hands in his pockets. "It doesn't look like I'm going to be able to keep Saorin at my place. I spoke to Mori-san about it to let her know, too. She's still happy to take care of Saorin for us."

"Damn," Yahaba sighs. "It's a shame you couldn't keep her, but like I said yesterday, I'm serious about taking care of her too. I live fifteen minutes away from your place, I can come over and help whenever you need. Please let me help." 

"I know that you meant it when you said you'd help yesterday," Kyoutani says. "How much do you want to be involved?"

"As much as possible," Yahaba says earnestly. "I'll reschedule my day around her, if I have to. I can take her on walks. I can help feed her. I can help you train her. I know she's going to be staying next door to you, but I don't want you to think that you're the one taking care of her and I'm just helping. I want to take care of her just as much as you do." 

Kyoutani hums in thought. "We can make this work. My parents both work late anyway, and none of my brothers and sisters live at home any more, so I'm pretty free until about eight o'clock. I can pick Saorin up from Mori-san when I get home. You could come over and we could spend time with her then? You could stay and do your homework while we have Saorin over at my place, if you want. I go for jogs in the morning, so I can take her with me. You could join us, if you're up early too. I want to spend as much time with Saorin as possible. You do too, don't you?"

"Yeah," Yahaba nods. "I think this could work. I could go to your place after practice, then go home before dinner. I'm happy to join you for morning jogs before practice, too. I could come over this afternoon, if that works for you."

"We'll tell Mori-san about our plan, too," Kyoutani adds. "She's up early in the morning anyway, so it shouldn't be too bad for us to pick Saorin up before going for jogs. We'll need to get a collar and leash, though. Maybe we can pick those up on our way home today."

"That sounds like a great idea," Yahaba says, already looking forward to it. "Alright. Now we've sorted that out, why don't we pick up where we left off yesterday, with our quick? The sooner we get this sorted, the better." 

"Yeah," Kyoutani agrees, taking his jacket off and leaving it to the side of the court with his bottle. "If we had a quick, we would have won that practice match the other day a lot sooner."

Sometimes, Yahaba thinks as he and Kyoutani put up the volleyball nets on the courts, playing with Kyoutani makes him feel unstoppable. Kyoutani is like a force of nature and it's impossible not to get swept up in that feeling. He's slowly learning how to stop feeling so jealous about how naturally talented Kyoutani is and instead, learning the benefits of using him as a weapon. He knows that Oikawa was onto something last year, after Kyoutani's return. Now, it's up to him to see it through. 

He tries not to be distracted throughout the day, but he can't stop thinking about the fact that he's going to see Saorin that afternoon. He catches himself smiling as he thinks about it, and Kyoutani notices it when they're at afternoon practice, giving him a knowing look before getting back to his drills. Yahaba bites the inside of his cheek to stop his smile from growing even wider, because he's sure that someone will notice, and it's not something that he wants to explain.

He thinks about telling Watari about Saorin, because he tells Watari everything. He resists the urge, though, because while he trusts Watari, all it's going to take is for someone else in the volleyball club to find out before all of them know, and he already knows it's going to be difficult to keep Saorin a secret from Kyoutani's parents when they have an entire team of people wanting to see the puppy. 

Instead, he finds himself turning to Kyoutani as they walk over to the court at the end of the gymnasium to work on their quick a bit more. "I haven't been able to stop thinking about seeing Saorin all day."

Kyoutani huffs quietly in amusement. "Yeah. I know how that feels. I got to see her a bit this morning when I went over to Mori-san's place, but it wasn't really enough. I'm looking forward to actually having her in my house again. I hope she'll feel comfortable in my room—oh, speaking of, I didn't clean my room. You're going to have to deal with the mess, okay?"

"That's fine," Yahaba snorts. "I can't really talk, myself." 

"You? Messy?" Kyoutani asks, raising an eyebrow. "I wouldn't have expected that."

"We _did_ talk about making assumptions about each other the other day, didn't we?" Yahaba asks, grinning at Kyoutani. "You should know better, Ken-chan." 

"Hey," Kyoutani growls, his cheeks going pink. "Don't." 

"How come Mori-san calls you that anyway?" Yahaba asks. "Is it just something she started doing and you just didn't want to correct her?"

"She's known me since I was a baby," Kyoutani replies. "She used to babysit me and everything. She's allowed to call me that. You're not." 

"Alright, alright," Yahaba says, raising his hands in surrender. "I didn't realise it was such a special thing." 

"Anyway," Kyoutani says, clearly changing the subject as he picks up a ball. "Let's get this quick working." 

They focus on practice for the rest of the afternoon, and perhaps it's because he's with Kyoutani, or perhaps it's because they're so close to the end of the day, but Yahaba finds that he isn't as distracted thinking about Saorin any more. He'll see her soon and he knows it, just like he knows that Kyoutani's looking forward to it just as much as he is. They just need to get through practice first. 

Irihata walks over to them, just as they're finally getting the timing right for their quick, clapping his hands together for their attention, before putting them into a court against the three tallest members of the team. It's not a proper three-on-three match, but it's enough to test out their skills, with Watari on their side to keep the ball moving. 

The first three tosses Yahaba sends Kyoutani is for a regular spike, just to throw the blockers off, and he's satisfied when one of them makes it through the block anyway, the second being saved by Watari so that Yahaba can toss again. 

The quick, when they do it, is faster than the blockers are prepared for. Yahaba signs for it and he doesn't even mind that Kyoutani is being obvious about it, settling into his stance a little more so that he can make a proper run up. Yahaba sends the toss his way and the blockers can't move in time to have a solid block ready. The ball hits Kindaichi's arm on the way past, leaving a red mark against his skin.

"Are you okay?" Yahaba asks, stepping up to the net. 

"I'm fine," Kindaichi replies. "That was great. It's got speed _and_ power. Kyoutani's good." 

"Yeah, he is," Yahaba says quietly, so that Kyoutani can't overhear. "That's why he's our ace."

They pull off the quick two more times, with the same result, and Yahaba's in a good mood when they finish practice for the day. They both decide to head off instead of staying late to practice, and Watari leaves too, mumbling something about another basketball practice match that he wants to watch. Yahaba tries not to let his eagerness show as he goes to the club room to change, but he's pretty sure that it's incredibly obvious anyway. Luckily, the rest of the team is already gone and it's just Kyoutani hanging back and waiting for him. 

"Do you think that she'll remember us?" Yahaba asks as they walk out of the school. 

"It's been a day, I'm sure she will," Kyoutani replies, leading the way down the street. There's a pet shop just a little bit out of their way, and they go there for a collar and leash first, before heading over to Kyoutani's house. They put their bags down first, leaving them in Kyoutani's room this time. Yahaba raises an eyebrow at the neat piles of things in Kyoutani's room, not messy in the slightest. He doesn't mention it, though, because Kyoutani is already looking embarrassed, and the last thing Yahaba wants to do is to make it worse.

They walk over to Mori-san's place, and she greets them warmly, her kettle already waiting on the kitchen bench, along with two cups for them. 

"Saorin behaved herself incredibly well today," Mori-san tells them proudly. "I'm sure you'll be happy to hear that. Jun and Yuzu have taken her in and she was napping with them today. They'll be good influences on her, I think."

"I'm glad to hear it," Kyoutani says, crouching down and smiling when Saorin comes over to greet him, with Jun and Yuzu both on her heels. Yahaba pats all three of them, laughing softly, and they sit down to finish their tea.

"I was telling Kyoutani this morning that I want to help as much as possible," Yahaba tells Mori-san, turning his cup of tea around in his hands. "We've talked about it and come up with a rough idea of how we'll take care of her. We'll come here after volleyball practice to pick her up and take her to Kyoutani's place, so we can spend time with her. We'll make sure to train her, and to make sure she gets enough exercise. I'll join Kyoutani in the mornings to walk her, as well. We'll drop her back here with you before Kyoutani's parents come home, so they don't find out about it."

Mori-san smiles at them. "You've put a lot of thought into this, haven't you?"

"We bought a collar and leash, too," Kyoutani adds proudly. "So she's all ready to go out." 

"Funny you should say that," Mori-san tells them. "Because I was just thinking today that both Jun and Yuzu are due to go to the vet soon, and it might be a god idea to take Saorin in, just so someone can have a proper look at her and make sure everything's okay. We might even be able to find out how old she is. If the two of you are up for an errand this afternoon, I was hoping that you could help me with the vet trip. It's difficult enough with two dogs on my own, I don't think that I'll be able to handle three."

"We'll be glad to help," Yahaba says, nodding. 

"We can walk from here," Mori-san tells them. "Get your collar and leash for Saorin, and I'll get these two ready, and we can go."

Saorin looks a little doubtful about her collar when Kyoutani puts it on, but she adjusts to it quickly enough. It looks chunky against her because she's so small, but the green of it is bright against her black fur and the matching green leash is a good length, allowing her to walk a little ahead of them and explore the street as they all walk together. Yahaba takes Jun and Yuzu's leashes from Mori-san to let her walk at her own pace, and it's nice to be out with so many dogs at once, when he's never been able to have a pet before. 

Kyoutani seems to be familiar with the route they're taking, probably because he used to take his old dog to the same vet, and Yahaba thinks that he glimpses a flash of nostalgia in Kyoutani's expression, but it's gone before he can look too closely. 

According to the vet, Saorin is roughly two months old; still young enough that she should only just have left her mother's side. Kyoutani's hands are balled into fists as he explains how they'd found her, and the vet recommends to give Saorin something warm and soft to snuggle against for comfort, if she can't be with Jun or Yuzu. The vet checks her for any sign of illness after being left out in the rain, but luckily, she seems to be healthy. They walk away with a rough plan of what kind of meals Saorin will need for her development, and a new record for her started under Mori-san's name as the owner, because Kyoutani and Yahaba can't put their own names down. 

They sit in the waiting room bench with Saorin in between them as they wait for Mori-san to finish with Jun and Yuzu's check ups. Saorin looks content and perhaps a little worn out from the new environment and all the excitement that comes with it, because she stays where she is, slowly blinking her eyes until they shut.

"She's so cute," Yahaba whispers, smiling down at her. "I'm glad she's okay." 

"Me too," Kyoutani whispers back. His hand hovers over her head, like he wants to pat her but doesn't want to disturb her when she's sleeping. "She did pretty well, for her first vet visit. What a good girl." 

Saorin sighs in her sleep and Yahaba feels his smile grow. He's pretty sure it's still there when Mori-san comes out with Jun and Yuzu, and he's smiling the entire way back to Kyoutani's place.

"Bring her back whenever you'd like," Mori-san tells them, as Kyoutani picks Saorin up to carry inside. "You know me, I'll most likely be in the backyard. Call over the fence, if you need to."

"Thank you," Yahaba says, bowing to her before he follows Kyoutani inside.

Saorin immediately begins exploring the new place from the moment she's put down on the floor. Her tail wags as she sniffs around, eagerly following Kyoutani as he makes his way to his room. 

Both Kyoutani and Yahaba sit on the floor, reaching out for Saorin, pleased when she goes between them both, accepting all the ear scratches and belly rubs they have to offer.

"I know the plan was to study while I'm over," Yahaba says, watching Saorin pounce excitedly as Kyoutani wiggles his fingers against the floor, "but I have a feeling that we're not going to get any work done at all."

"Probably not," Kyoutani agrees, not even sounding the least bit bothered by this fact.

Yahaba will have to catch up on his homework tonight after dinner, when he's at home. He doesn't really mind that, though. He's happy to spend some time here in Kyoutani's room, playing with Saorin while he can. 

 

 

* * *

 

 

The next morning, Yahaba jogs over to Kyoutani's house, to meet him outside with Saorin already on her leash and ready to go.

"I think it's probably best if we just try walking it with her first before jogging," Kyoutani says, looking down at the puppy. "Don't want to tire her out too quickly."

"You're right," Yahaba agrees. "Is your usual route going to be too long? She's small, though, so I'm fine to carry her even if she does get tired."

"We'll try it," Kyoutani decides. "We'll see how she goes."

The circuit that Kyoutani takes them on goes in the opposite direction to where Yahaba lives, curving in and out of the smaller streets and then through a park. Saorin is curious about everything that she sees, eagerly sniffing away and every post or bush she comes across. It's cute, and Kyoutani's experience with dogs is obvious, because he's gentle about the way he tugs on her leash to pull her along when she's taking too long. Yahaba watches all of it closely, learning as much as he can, and he blinks with surprise when, as they turn around to head back, Kyoutani holds the leash out for him to take.

"Your turn," Kyoutani tells him. "It'll be fine. Just don't pull too hard, and make sure the leash is a bit tighter when we're near the road. If you need me to take over again, I'll be here anyway."

Yahaba nods, holding onto the leash firmly, leaving enough slack for Saorin to wander around and explore as they walk. It's not too bad, and Yahaba feels a little reassured by the fact that he has Kyoutani keeping an eye on him, ready to step in at any time if he's needed. 

Saorin holds up for the entire walk, but she's utterly exhausted by the time they get back to Mori-san's place, padding over to her water bowl as soon as they take the leash off her, standing there and drinking deeply. Yahaba smiles as he watches her, patting her gently when she wanders back over towards them.

"She was good today," Kyoutani says, in that same gentle voice that he seems to reserve just for dogs. "Very curious, but that's what I was expecting. We'll be back this afternoon to pick her up, okay?" 

"Have a good day at school," Mori-san tells them both cheerfully and they wave goodbye to her, walking back out onto the street.

"I'll see you at practice," Yahaba says, checking the time. It's early enough that he can go home, have a shower and then walk to school. "Thanks for letting me walk her with you."

"You don't have to thank me," Kyoutani mumbles, sounding a little embarrassed. "You're the one who had to wake up early and come all the way over here. Thanks for helping me walk her. Maybe tomorrow, I'll give you the leash for the whole walk. You did a pretty good job." 

Yahaba smiles at the praise, rubbing the back of his neck. "Okay, I need to go. Don't be late for practice, okay?" 

"Yeah, yeah," Kyoutani mutters, sending him off with a wave.

Yahaba is in a good mood for the rest of the morning. It shows at practice, where he's more driven, more confident as he talks to the team about what they'll be working on today. He's going to spend some time working with the reserve setters, while Watari works with the reserve libero. Kyoutani blinks in surprise when he's put in charge of practicing with the first year wing spikers, but he nods and accepts it without a word. 

They have another practice match at the end of the week, and Yahaba feels comfortable enough using their quick, but they're going to need to build up more strategies and more skills, especially among the first years. Irihata works with both Kindaichi and Morita, the tall first year, to build on strategies for middle blockers, and Yahaba can't help his amused glances in their direction as Kindaichi gets obviously flustered about being the experienced senior in the situation.

"Kunimi," Yahaba calls, waving him over as well. "I think it would help if you practiced this with us."

"I'm not a setter," Kunimi replies, even though he walks over with his arms folded across his chest. 

"I know that. Most of the teams we're playing against know that too, from when they've played against us before." Yahaba grins. "Don't you think that's the best reason to learn how to set properly, just in case you have to? No one will be expecting it."

Kunimi looks away. "I'm not going to be anything like Kageyama—"

"And I'm nothing like Oikawa," Yahaba replies easily, making Kunimi look up. "You don't have to be like Kageyama. All you need to do is get the ball up in the air. To Kyoutani, or Kindaichi, or Morita, or whoever. You might be responsible for setting up an attack, but you're not the only one responsible for seeing it through. That's what the rest of the team is there for."

The two first years in front of Yahaba stare at him with wide eyes. Kunimi cocks his head to the side, looking just a shade more interested. "You've been putting a lot of thought into this." 

Yahaba shrugs, looking away. "It's like what Iwaizumi-san and Oikawa-san were saying last year, right? In volleyball, it's the team with the six strongest players who wins. None of us are alone on the court. We need to remember that." 

"Okay," Kunimi says, picking up a ball and holding it between both hands. "I'll learn to set, then."

The rest of the morning is incredibly productive, and it's a nice feeling, the entire gymnasium buzzing with energy. By the end of practice, the entire team is talking about their upcoming practice match, and what they want to try out. Yahaba encourages it; he's already thinking of talking to Irihata and Mizoguchi about letting one of the first years play setter for part of the match, just to see how they do in an actual game. It's exciting, with the year ahead of them and so much potential in all of them. Yahaba wants to see what everyone is capable of, he wants to see what _he_ is capable of, and he's looking forward to the looks on their opponents faces when they're beaten. 

He says as much to Kyoutani and Watari as they walk to their homerooms, startling a laugh out of both of them. 

"You're mean," Watari tells him, shaking his head even though he's grinning. "I can't believe becoming captain has made you like this."

"What do you mean?" Kyoutani snorts. "He was probably like this all the time, it was just there under the surface with no way to show itself. Now everyone's going to know you're a dick." 

"Hey," Yahaba protests, shoving Kyoutani as he laughs. "You were the one who was pointing out how much we were being underestimated at the last practice match. You wanted to crush them, didn't you?"

"I always want to crush the people who underestimate me," Kyoutani replies, cracking his knuckles. "So I can make sure they don't do it again."

"You're a little terrifying when you're like that," Watari says, even though Yahaba finds that he disagrees; he likes it when Kyoutani is threatening, when he's quiet and calculating behind his actions rather than just trying to win through sheer force. 

He likes it when Kyoutani shows that there's more to him than meets the eye, but perhaps that's just because Yahaba has seen the other side of him, where he's gentle and caring with Saorin. Maybe he _is_ learning not to make snap judgements about people, but he doesn't think there's a better example of it than Kyoutani. 

Watari and Yahaba are in the same homeroom this year. As they leave Kyoutani to walk into his, Watari turns to Yahaba. "You know, you're getting along with Kyoutani a lot better than you were before." 

"Yeah?" Yahaba asks, and wonders if walking a dog together for one morning can really make that much of a difference. He shrugs it off. He's already decided not to tell Watari about Saorin, and he's going to stick to that. "I guess we're learning how to deal with each other? I mean, you were there for that argument we had. I think it's been better since then."

"I guess so," Watari says hesitantly, still frowning a little. "It's just that… I don't know. Just then, when we were walking together, it was like you were almost _friendly_ with each other." 

Yahaba smiles to cover his panic. "Well, we can't be at each other's throats the whole time, can we? That would be a little exhausting."

"I know," Watari mutters. "That's what you've been like for the past few months. _I_ was getting exhausted just watching you." 

"Maybe it's the fact that we're in third year now," Yahaba shrugs. "We're mature now."

Watari blinks at him. "You actually sulked when I beat you in our calculus test the other day." 

"We're _getting there_ ," Yahaba amends, sitting down at his desk and scowling at Watari. "I don't see why it's such a big deal. It's a good thing, right?" 

"It definitely is," Watari nods. "And trust me when I say that I really hope it stays that way. I think the whole team is doing better because of it."

"I've noticed that too," Yahaba sighs, resting his chin in his hand. "I guess I'll just have to not fight Kyoutani, for the sake of the team. It's better that way. It'll be too embarrassing for him when he loses. "

Watari snorts out a laugh, shoving at Yahaba's shoulder. "Kyoutani was right. You _are_ always mean." 

Shoving Watari back, Yahaba grins. "You should know that by now."


	3. Chapter 3

The practice match might not go as well as planned, but they win anyway. Yahaba is pleased to know that he was right; it _is_ incredibly satisfying to look at the expressions on their opponents' faces when they're beaten. 

Yahaba and Kyoutani have been neglecting working on their quick while turning their attention to the rest of the team, so it doesn't go as well as Yahaba would like, but as Irihata reminds him during a timeout, this is exactly what practice matches are for, anyway. Yahaba sits out the first half of the third set so he can watch Hayato, one of the first year setters, play instead. He still has some improvements to make, but the rest of the team make sure the ball makes it across the net, and that's all he needs. 

To celebrate afterwards, Yahaba and Kyoutani spend the entire afternoon playing with Saorin, their homework sitting forgotten. On his way back home, Yahaba drops by the same pet store where they bought Saorin's collar and leash, and spends most of his month's allowance on several different kinds of dog treats, as well as a few cans of dog food. He brings them with him as he goes to Kyoutani's house the next morning, giving Mori-san the dog food in thanks for taking care of Saorin, and then holds the bag of treats out for Kyoutani.

"We're going to need treats to train Saorin, right?" Yahaba smiles. "Maybe we can take her to the park and work on a few things. I've been looking at videos about it to get my head around what we need to do. I figure that you might have a bit of experience too." 

"Yeah," Kyoutani nods, looking through the treats. "These are going to be helpful. Thanks, Yahaba. Maybe we can start training her this afternoon."

They take Saorin for her walk, and she's building up the stamina to keep a steady pace the entire way around. Yahaba and Kyoutani use the time to talk about new strategies they want to try at practice, or homework that they've been struggling with. They haven't had a lot of time in the lead up to the practice match but now that it's over, they might be able to spend a bit more time at Kyoutani's place in the afternoons, going over their homework together. 

Kyoutani is good at mathematics and physics, and he wants to be better at chemistry and biology. Yahaba is the opposite, so studying together should work in both their favours. It's just difficult to pull their attention away from Saorin and get back to their books, and Yahaba doubts that this afternoon is going to be much better when they want to spend time training her. 

Sharing a secret with Kyoutani is an interesting experience. They've never really spoken outside of volleyball before, but now that they have more to talk about, it's easier to acknowledge each other in passing in the hallways, it's easier for Yahaba to approach Kyoutani to share thoughts on how they'll train Saorin, and if it's a noticeable difference to them, then it must be incredibly obvious to everyone else. 

Yahaba knows that Watari is incredibly curious about their new friendship, and he supposes that he can't rely deny the fact that it's a _friendship_ now. They might not be particularly close, but they do get along much easier. He thinks about that as they walk home together that afternoon, as he listens to Kyoutani go over his plan for how they're going to train Saorin. They don't bother with their homework, putting their bags down the moment they get to Kyoutani's house so that they can take Saorin to the park with the bag of treats. 

They focus on teaching her how to sit first, pleased with just how quickly she picks it up. 

"You're clever, aren't you?" Kyoutani says proudly, patting Saorin. "Such a good girl."

Yahaba smiles, crouching down to pat her as well. He likes how relaxing it is, spending time like this with Saorin, letting her play in between training her. They work on teaching her to stay next, with Kyoutani keeping her by his side while Yahaba walks away. It takes longer for her to learn, because every time he makes eye contact with her, she tries to wiggle away from Kyoutani and run over to him, but they manage to teach that that too before the sun begins to set and they need to leave. 

"Not bad," Kyoutani says, nodding at Yahaba as they walk into his house. "You did a good job training her."

"You're the one who did all the work," Yahaba replies. "I just helped where I could."

"Still." Kyoutani walks over to the fridge, pouring out two glasses of juice for them both. "I probably couldn't have done it myself. And you're the one who bought the treats anyway. I think, between the two of us and with Mori-san's help, Saorin's being taken care of pretty well."

Yahaba hums in agreement, draining the glass that Kyoutani pushes over to him, washing it and leaving it to dry before he follows Kyoutani into his room. 

They sit around the low table in Kyoutani's room, working on their homework while Saorin naps beside them. Kyoutani has a hot water bottle wrapped in a soft blanket, and Saorin cuddles against that as she sleeps. Yahaba tries not to get distracted by looking over at her instead of doing his work, glad when he notices that Kyoutani does it just as often too. They work on their biology homework together, with Yahaba explaining what they've been learning in class, until Kyoutani gets it. By the time they're done, it's getting late and Yahaba gathers his things into his bag as Kyoutani picks Saorin up, ready to take her back to Mori-san. 

"Yahaba," Kyoutani says, just before he's about to leave. Kyoutani looks down at Saorin, scratching under her chin before he looks back up. He holds Yahaba's gaze when he speaks. "You're a pretty good person." 

All Yahaba can do in reply is to blink at him with surprise. "Where did that come from?"

"Nowhere," Kyoutani says quickly, looking away, and even in the light of the nearby streetlamp, Yahaba can see the way his cheeks are turning pink. "It's just—this was nice, okay? Training Saorin. Doing homework. It was nice."

Yahaba smiles slowly, and he nods in reply. "Yeah. It was. Let's do it again, okay?" 

Kyoutani nods. "Yeah. Have a good night."

 

 

* * *

 

 

It takes another week for Yahaba realise that he actually considers Kyoutani a proper friend. 

He might be the very last person to figure it out, because everyone from the second years to his fellow third years comment on how much they've been getting along lately. Yahaba figures that perhaps it's just because they're not fighting as often as they used to and every time they argue now, it's quiet and quickly resolved. He doesn't think anything of the fact that he'll walk over to Kyoutani more often to make conversation on their way to or from practice, and honestly, nothing really stands out to him until he invites Kyoutani to join him and Watari for lunch one day, when they bump into each other in the hallway.

It's Watari's wide-eyed look that really makes him stop and think about what he's doing, but then Kyoutani's pulling up a chair and opening his lunch box, and Yahaba just sits back down and shrugs at Watari. 

Watari is welcoming enough, because he's good like that. He takes a moment to catch Kyoutani up to where they are in their conversation, and continues talking about the most recent practice match he's watched for the girls' basketball team, where they lost, but only just barely. 

"Isn't it weird to watch the girl's basketball team play?" Kyoutani asks, raising an eyebrow. "I mean, you're not even on the basketball team."

"That doesn't stop people from coming to watch us when we play practice matches," Watari points out. "Besides, watching the girls play is—"

"Oh," Yahaba sits up. "It's about the _girls_ , isn't it?"

Kyoutani looks up at Yahaba. "Did it really take you this long to realise?" 

Yahaba feels his face heat. "Shut up. Watari was talking about the technique and the game strategy and I thought—"

"You kept getting distracted thinking up strategies for our next practice," Watari sighs, resting his chin in his hand. "It doesn't surprise me at all, actually." 

"Aren't you taking this captaincy thing a little too seriously?" Kyoutani asks, cocking his head to the side. "You don't have to live and breathe volleyball you know. You're allowed to take breaks. It's all you ever talk about when we—"

Kyoutani cuts himself off, and Yahaba feels his heart skip a beat. Watari looks between them, clearly curious. 

"We walk home together sometimes," Yahaba says quickly, fixing his gaze on Watari so he doesn't look back in Kyoutani's direction. "Because we live in the same direction. I didn't even realise until I bumped into him at the convenience store the other day! Can you believe it took us this long to realise? Weird, right?"

Kyoutani kicks Yahaba's shin under the table, as a sign to stop talking. Yahaba tries not to react, even though his hands ball into fists under the table, out of sight. 

"You walk home together?" Watari asks, frowning as he tries to process that. Yahaba wonders if that's more or less believable than the fact that he and Kyoutani are secretly taking care of a puppy together. Finally, Watari nods. "You know what? That sort of makes sense." 

"What is that supposed to mean?" Kyoutani asks, folding his arms on the edge of the desk.

"You seem to be getting along better with each other after having that fight during afternoon practice a while back," Watari says, "but I always thought that there was something _more_ to it, you know? It's great that you're on the same page now, but I don't think people would just stop fighting so easily. I guess if you're spending more time with each other, even if it's just when you're walking home, then it makes sense that you're getting along a bit better." 

"Right," Yahaba nods. "I mean, it's not exactly something that we started doing on purpose, but it just kind of happened and…"

Kyoutani kicks Yahaba under the table again. Yahaba falls silent, but Watari seems to accept this. Taking a deep breath, Yahaba lets himself relax.

Watari doesn't bring it up again until later, after class, when they're making their way to practice. "You know, I can't believe you're willingly spending time with Kyoutani, outside of practice."

Yahaba laughs quietly. "I wouldn't have believed it either, if you'd told me a month ago. Like I said, it just kind of happened. We usually leave practice at the same time anyway, right?"

"I guess," Watari says slowly. "But still, it feels like the two of you have changed a lot in the past couple of weeks. Just because you're walking together?"

Watari's right; Yahaba knows that the way he and Kyoutani are around each other now is a result of how much time they spend with each other these days. He can't admit that it's because they're taking care of Saorin, but at the very least, he has to say something. "It's because we go to Kyoutani's place after practice to do our homework together." 

"Seriously?" Watari asks. "You _study_ together. When were you going to tell me this?"

"It's not really a big deal," Yahaba says, shrugging. 

"It kind of is," Watari replies. "I'm pretty sure you hated him a while back, and now you're hanging out with him? Doing your homework with him?"

"I didn't hate him," Yahaba sighs, running a hand through his hair. "I mean, I can see why you think so, and he used to think so as well, but it wasn't like that. Maybe I was jealous of him, but when it came down to it, that was because he's talented, and I'm not anywhere near as good as he is. But regulars aren't chosen based on how much they want to play, it's a matter of who makes the team stronger and gives us a better chance at winning. From the coaches' perspective, or even from a captain's perspective, I wouldn't even think twice about putting Kyoutani in. He plays well. He doesn't really cause a lot of trouble. That's all that really matters, when it comes down to it."

Watari shakes his head, still looking amazed. "You've come a long way, huh? I didn't realise that becoming captain would have this big of an impact on you. It's kind of good, though. I can already see the way that you and Kyoutani work better on the court—I think your quick is enough proof of that. You wouldn't have been able to pull that off if you weren't seeing eye to eye. Besides, the rest of the team is coming together around you a lot better. You know what to focus on, and it's good. You're doing a great job as captain, you know."

Yahaba grins, feeling his face grow warm. "Thank you. That means a lot, actually." 

Patting Yahaba on the back, Watari leads the way into the club room so they can change, waving at their other teammates already in there. Yahaba changes quickly, already looking forward to starting practice. He's practicing with Kyoutani again today, working on that quick a little more until it feels natural enough to not require too much thought while they're in the middle of a game. They're getting there, but Yahaba knows that they have a long way to go. 

Playing on the court with Kyoutani has felt a little bit different, ever since Yahaba started taking care of Saorin with him. He's always been incredibly aware of where Kyoutani is on the court, because he's always given off an aura that's impossible to ignore. Now, however, Yahaba finds that he doesn't even need to pay attention all that much to find Kyoutani. At any given time, he can pick out where Kyoutani is and recently, he's gotten better at knowing where Kyoutani is most likely to move.

Perhaps that's comes from the fact that they're spending so much time together that they're getting to know each other. Maybe Yahaba predicting Kyoutani's responses is a result of seeing the way he plays with Saorin, watching how fast he moves, the way he moves, and Yahaba honestly didn't even realise that he was paying attention to any of that. If it helps them on the court, though, he supposes that it can't really be such a bad thing. 

It makes Yahaba wonder if Kyoutani feels the same way with him, too. He waits until they have a court to themselves before he asks, because he knows it's an odd question and he isn't entirely sure how to word it just yet. 

He glances around to make sure that nobody else can overhear, and then he clears his throat. "I've got a question." 

"Yeah?" 

"I've been finding it easier to figure out where you are on the court lately," Yahaba says. "I mean—it's not that I'm looking. It's just that when I'm tossing the ball, I can tell where you are, or where you'll be. Sometimes without having to look."

Kyoutani raises an eyebrow. "Really?"

"I couldn't do that before," Yahaba tells him. "I don't know if it's something that might be useful, if we can find a way to use it. I'm not entirely sure, but I think it might be worth trying." 

Humming in thought, Kyoutani looks at him. "I think I know what you mean. Even when you're tossing, I can kind of tell where the ball's going to go, based on how you get under the ball. I know where I need to be, to make sure I meet the ball to spike it. Maybe it's because we're getting familiar with each other?"

"Maybe," Yahaba agrees. 

It invariably makes him think of Oikawa and Iwaizumi, and the deep connection they had with each other, on and off the court. Yahaba's always admired that, but he's always thought that there was some sort of magic to it; their understanding of each other always felt like something much more than what could usually be found between teammates. Maybe it came from how long they've known each other, or maybe it came from something much deeper than that, but Yahaba's always found himself wishing that he could have even just a fraction of what they did. 

Comparing his mutual understanding with Kyoutani to that feels a little ridiculous, so Yahaba tries not to. Instead, he just focuses on the fact that this in itself feels like a small victory. He just needs to hold onto the feeling and make sure that something good comes out of it.

 

 

* * *

 

 

At the first morning of practice the next week, Irihata informs them that they have an upcoming practice match with Karasuno. It sends a murmur throughout the entire team, and Yahaba tries his very best to keep his face blank, to hide the sudden dread he feels. 

Karasuno must have changed a lot after the seniors graduated, just like their team has. Yahaba is curious to see just how big that change is, and he'd honestly rather find out in a practice match rather than an official one. Clearly, they must be feeling the same way. 

He glances at his teammates; the third and second years who were in the match against Karasuno in the Spring High. He can see the determination in each and every one of their expressions, and he can relate. 

"This time…" he speaks up, and the team turn their heads towards him. He gives them his most confident smile. "We're going to get our revenge. We're going to beat them." 

"Yeah," Kyoutani says, louder than the rest. He nods at Yahaba, lips pressed together into a thin line, his eyes bright with the challenge. Kyoutani was a gamble to send out onto the court last time they were up against Karasuno; Yahaba wants to show them just how much he's improved since then, just how much the team has grown around him. 

He has Oikawa's number and for a moment, he considers sending him a message to let him know that they'll be playing against Karasuno. He decides against it, though, because the pressure is already a little overwhelming as it is. The thought of Oikawa coming to watch makes it feel ten times worse. 

"You look stressed," Watari says, after their team meeting. "Is it because we lost against Karasuno last time?"

"We lost against them while Oikawa-san was still on the team," Yahaba points out, sighing heavily. "I know we're a different team now, just like they are. They might not have their old captain and his receives, but their libero is a third year now, and the baldy who riled Kyoutani up last time is most likely their new ace. He seems to be good at lifting his team's morale whenever it drops."

"And our team respects you," Watari replies. "You're good at pumping us up, before a game and during it, too. That's what you've been doing in our recent practice matches. You know the right things to say to the right people. You should give yourself more credit. We all want to win, okay? Everyone is going to do their very best."

"Yeah," Yahaba nods, "you're right. There's no point in worrying about it. All we can do is make sure that we're prepared for it, I guess."

Kyoutani talks to him about it as well, when they're walking to his place after practice. He clears his throat quietly to break the silence, glancing over at Yahaba. 

"The practice match against Karasuno is going to be pretty important for us, huh?"

"I think it will be important for them as well," Yahaba says, instead of answering the question that Kyoutani is asking.

Of course, Kyoutani doesn't let him get away with it. "Didn't ask about _them_ , did I? I don't care about how they feel. I care about our team."

"I think that beating Karasuno, even at a practice match, is going to make us feel much better as a team. Especially the ones who were at the Spring High." Yahaba sighs. "All we can do is try. We'll have to make sure we're prepared."

"You know how our team's motto is to _rule the court_?" Kyoutani asks. "We take control of it. We _keep_ control of it. We do that by playing smart. Thinking about what we need to do, how to adjust our playing style. Karasuno's style is always changing, depending on who they're up against. We'll need to be paying attention to what they're doing."

"Funny that you should be the one telling me that," Yahaba snorts quietly. "You used to be the one charging head-first without thinking about any other way." 

"Well, that didn't win us any matches, did it?" Kyoutani looks away, looking a little embarrassed. "Losing teaches you a few things, I guess." 

"You're right," Yahaba says softly. "You're absolutely right about that. We've learned a lot, haven't we?"

"We'll keep learning," Kyoutani replies confidently. "Anyway, I saw you taking some match recordings from Irihata. We can watch them together, if you want. Another pair of eyes won't hurt, right?"

"That sounds really good, actually," Yahaba replies. "We could get snacks from the convenience store on our way."

They haven't been going to the convenience store lately because they've been saving up their pocket money to buy things for Saorin instead. Yahaba figures that they can afford a small treat for themselves today, though. Analysing recorded matches can be tiring, but at least having some snacks will make things better. 

Yahaba isn't the least bit surprised when Kyoutani grabs a handful of karaage packets off the shelf and takes them to the counter. Picking out larger packets of snacks that they can share, Yahaba pays for his food too, meeting Kyoutani out on the street.

"I've missed these," Kyoutani murmurs as they walk to his place. He tears a packet open, shoving it into his mouth, and Yahaba whacks him in the arm.

"Don't eat while you're walking, that's fucking rude." 

Kyoutani snorts, chewing and swallowing before he speaks. " _You're_ fucking rude."

They stare each other down for a moment, and Kyoutani is the first to crack, looking away as he laughs. Yahaba laughs too, covering his mouth with a hand. It times like these, the difference in their relationship is incredibly obvious. He's glad for it, though. Maybe it's all because of Saorin, but Yahaba knows that he wouldn't have it any other way. 

Saorin is happy to see them both when they pick her up from Mori-san. Her tail wags until Yahaba bends to pick her up, cuddling her to his chest. Jun and Yuzu are sleeping, so used to both of them coming and going that they don't even bother investigating any more. Kyoutani waves off Mori-san's offer of tea, telling her that they have a lot of work to do this afternoon, and they relocate to Kyoutani's house, where they stay in the lounge room this time, so they can watch the match recordings on the TV screen. 

"Looks like Saorin wants your karaage," Yahaba murmurs, smiling as she sniffs at Kyoutani's bag. 

"These aren't good for you," Kyoutani tells her, holding them out of her reach. "Yahaba, I've got her treats in my room, on the right side of my desk. Can you give her some, so she doesn't feel left out?"

"Aren't you spoiled?" Yahaba asks Saorin fondly, patting her before he goes to Kyoutani's room to retrieve the snacks. When he gets back, Saorin is snuggled on Kyoutani's lap, her head resting on his chest, and it's so cute that he has to take his phone out to snap a photo. 

"Hey," Kyoutani protests, reaching out for Yahaba's phone. "Show me."

Yahaba surrenders his phone. "Don't delete it." 

"Not going to," Kyoutani replies, his expression softening as he looks at the photo. "Send it to me?"

"Sure," Yahaba replies, shaking some of Saorin's treats out into his hand for her to eat before he takes his phone back. "There, done. I'll get a bowl for the snacks while you set up the TV, okay?"

"Deal," Kyoutani replies, picking up the CDs that Yahaba's taken out of his bag. 

When they finally settle on the couch with a bowl of snacks on the table, Saorin has curled up on the couch in between them, resting her head on her tiny paws. 

"What the hell," Yahaba mutters, as Kyoutani hits play on the recording. "Our puppy's so cute."

Kyoutani grins, reaching over to pat her. "Yeah she is."

 

 

* * *

 

 

When the practice match against Karasuno comes around, Yahaba feels ready. Their team has practiced specifically for this; Yahaba and Watari have spoken to the middle blockers about how to force the path of Hinata's spikes, the way they saw Matsukawa doing the last time they played. Two of their strongest receivers have graduated, so Kyoutani just needs to put enough strength into his spikes to make sure they get through. The more that they capitalise on their chances when Karasuno's libero is off the court, the better.

"I don't want you to let that wing spiker get to you like last time," Yahaba tells Kyoutani, as they're waiting for Karasuno to arrive. "But when it comes down to it, I want you to beat him. Ace to ace." 

Kyoutani grins. "Yeah. I'm not going to lose to him." 

"If I see you getting drawn into a petty competition with him," Yahaba warns, "I _will_ yell at you, on the court. I don't care if we're halfway through a match. You need to keep your cool."

"Sounds like you do, too," Kyoutani snorts. He tilts his head to the side. "You're not afraid of them, are you?"

"Of course not," Yahaba replies. "I have no reason to be. We've done everything we can to prepare. We've watched every Karasuno match recording we could get our hands on, including the one against Shiratorizawa. We know what to do." 

Kyoutani looks at Yahaba, unconvinced. Yahaba sighs, breaking eye contact. 

"And yeah. Maybe I'm a little worried." 

Kyoutani pats him on the back a little awkwardly. "You'll be okay. We'll be okay."

They walk over to join Watari, who's looking up at the second level balcony nervously. Yahaba nudges him, giving him a curious look.

"Are you expecting someone?" Yahaba asks. "Hoping for a fan club?" 

"I don't need a club," Watari replies, still looking up. "Just—a friend. Who said that they might show up to watch." 

Yahaba's eyes narrow. "Do I know this friend? I swear, Watari, if you told our seniors about this practice match—"

"It's not them," Watari says, shaking his head. "You don't know her—um! Them." 

"You've invited a girl to come watch you play?" Yahaba asks, his eyes going wide. "Let me guess. From the basketball team you keep going to watch, huh? It's about time she came to see one of _your_ practice matches instead. Don't you worry, as your captain and best friend, I'll make sure that you look extra cool while she's watching."

" _If_ she's watching," Watari says mournfully, and then his eyes go wide. "Shit." 

Yahaba and Kyoutani both look up to see the girl in question; the center of the basketball team that Yahaba remembers watching in the practice match a while back. She waves down to Watari, who waves back at her. Yahaba sighs, turning away to hide his grin because he can see how red the back of Watari's neck has turned. 

"You don't even have hair to hide that blush," he mutters, "what are you going to do?"

"Shut up," Watari whispers, and Yahaba doesn't have the time to tease him any further because the gymnasium doors open as Karasuno arrives. 

Their captain, Ennoshita, seems like the calm and quiet kind, but Yahaba has a strong suspicion that anyone who gets selected as the captain of a team like Karasuno is anything but calm and quiet. He seems to be well-respected by the rest of his team, and he's friendly enough when he shakes hands with Yahaba. 

He was in one of the games, back in the Spring High, Yahaba remembers. He and Kyoutani watched that game more than once, to try and get a better idea of what the next generation of Karasuno would be like. Surely, Ennoshita has improved since then. Yahaba will have to stay on his guard.

Kyoutani has warmed up while they were waiting for Karasuno to arrive, so he's ready to go. It means that they won't have to spend the first set waiting for him to hit his stride, because that's not an advantage they can afford to give to Karasuno. 

The first set is tentative, with both teams gauging each other. Both sides gain points steadily and Yahaba notices that Kyoutani starts getting antsy halfway through, so they pull of a quick, just to settle him down. The tone of the game immediately changes. The Karasuno first year duo—now second years—look equally eager to make their attack, but Yahaba knows that his middle blockers are prepared. It's easy enough for Watari to pick up Hinata's spike when he can't do a straight. Kindaichi sticks to him, figuring out his rhythm and syncing to it. Yahaba pats him on the back when a well-timed block puts their score in the twenties, with Karasuno two points behind. 

"I want to do another quick," Kyoutani mutters, as Kindaichi gets ready to serve.

"We'll wait for a good time," Yahaba replies. "It'll be soon, though, don't you worry. Kindaichi, nice serve!" 

"Nice serve," Kyoutani echoes, with the rest of the team.

Kindaichi is building more strength in his hits, and Karasuno's formation scatters as they try to receive his serve. It sends the ball back over to their side of the net, and Yahaba nods at Kyoutani this time, tossing the ball without a word. Kyoutani jumps to meet it, slamming it past the middle blockers' arms. 

" _Yeah_ ," Kyoutani cheers, turning to Yahaba with a grin. "One more."

They follow up with another quick, and when Karasuno's attention is turned to Kyoutani, Yahaba sends his next toss to Kindaichi. Kyoutani swings at the empty air with a growl of frustration, turning to Yahaba when he lands.

"Good work," Yahaba tells him, before Kyoutani can get annoyed. "We got that point because the blockers were following you."

"I know that," Kyoutani grits out. "But seriously, just two? Talk about stingy."

"Would you prefer that we let them get used to our quick?" Yahaba asks, raising an eyebrow. "Come on, only a few more points and we've got this set." 

Of course, Karasuno doesn't make it easy for them. The first set ends in Aoba Jousai's favour, but with Karasuno only three points behind. 

The second set is more difficult. Karasuno gets off to a strong start, with Hinata and Kageyama racking up a handful points, until Kyoutani changes the tide. His serves still aren't at the same level as Oikawa's, but Nishinoya is off the court and Kyoutani doesn't make it easy for any of the others to receive his serves. 

When they do manage to get the ball in the air, Yahaba sets up another quick for Kyoutani. It's satisfying, while it lasts, but then the tide turns again. It's frustrating, being so evenly matched with Karasuno that neither of them can really pull ahead. The match ends up stretching to three sets, the last one ending in a deuce that Karasuno wins, winning them the match. Yahaba is incredibly frustrated and just one school term ago, he would have let it show, but that's not something he can let himself do now that he's captain. This is their current team's first loss, and he has to be careful about the way he responds to it, because he knows that it's going to affect the rest of the team. 

"You did well," he tells his teammates, holding his head high. He nods at Watari, who nods back, lips pressed into a thin line. "It was an incredibly close match. You held up against them incredibly well. You should all be proud of yourselves. We'll reflect on what we can improve later. Losses are an important way to learn, don't forget that." 

The teams line up, bowing to each other, and Yahaba steps up to the net, to shake hands with Ennoshita.

"Your team is amazing," Ennoshita tells Yahaba, clasping his hand with both of his own. "They're all incredibly strong."

"So is yours," Yahaba replies. "I'm glad we got to play you before the Interhigh preliminaries. We're going to improve between now and then." 

"So will we," Ennoshita grins. "We'll see you there." 

"You definitely will," Yahaba replies, walking them out of the gymnasium. Kyoutani and Watari stay behind, and Yahaba is surprised to find Kindaichi and Kunimi walking out too. Kageyama pauses halfway through conversation with Hinata when he sees them, but they don't speak to each other. Yahaba exchanges numbers with Ennoshita before seeing the team onto their bus, thanking them again for coming. 

"They've gotten stronger," Kunimi says, as the bus drives away. "Kageyama and that shrimp. They keep improving."

"So will we," Yahaba tells him. "There's still some time before the Interhigh preliminaries. This was just a practice match."

"Didn't really feel that way," Kindaichi speaks up, rubbing his shoulder, where he knocked into Ishida, the first year middle blocker when they were trying to coordinate a block. "Felt like all of us were taking it really seriously."

"I guess that can't be helped," Yahaba sighs. "We lost to them last time. We didn't want to lose again. We'll definitely have to beat them next time." 

"That was always the plan, right?" Kindaichi asks. He puts his hands in his pockets, following Yahaba and Kunimi back inside. "No one's given up yet, captain."

Watari and Kyoutani are waiting for him inside, and the three of them hang back while the rest of the team make their way to the club room to change before their post-match meeting with the coaches. 

"Sorry you couldn't win while your girlfriend was watching," Yahaba says to Watari.

"Shut up, she's not my girlfriend," Watari replies immediately. "And it's fine. We didn't do too badly, to be honest. It was pretty damn close." 

"What about you?" Yahaba asks, turning to Kyoutani.

In reply, Kyoutani just shrugs. "I'm annoyed that we lost, but we can't really do anything about that now, can we? It's just a matter of what we do next to make up for it. I don't want to lose to them again. We played pretty well today, I think either of us could have won. It just so happened that they did instead of us. The next time we face them, we need to be a lot better." 

"You're right," Yahaba sighs. "I'm glad that we played this match, though. I think that everyone learned a lot." 

Kyoutani nods, and he bumps their shoulders together gently as they walk to the club room to get changed too. Watari glances up at the balcony one last time before leaving the gymnasium, even though all of their spectators are already gone. Yahaba notices the way his shoulders slump, and pats his friend on the shoulder gently. 

Their meeting afterwards is a long one, going over all the plays they executed, from the ones that succeeded to the ones that failed, and why. The coaches tell the team that they'll come up with a new practice regimen specifically for them all to work on their weaknesses, and Yahaba is glad when not a single person in the team complains about it, all of them determined to make the improvements necessary to win their next game, whether it be against Karasuno, or anyone else. 

It's later than usual by the time Yahaba and Kyoutani get to Mori-san's place to pick up Saorin. Neither of them are in the mood to do anything, and they end up collapsing on the couch. Kyoutani turns the TV on, just so that there's some background noise to negate the need for conversation, and they both commiserate in silence, stroking their fingers through Saorin's soft fur, too tired to care when they brush against each other. 

When he's with Kyoutani like this, Yahaba feels like he can be honest. It doesn't even need words, but he can stop hiding just how disappointed he is. He knows it shows in the slump of his shoulders, in the way he rests his head back against the couch, in his heavy sighs. The thing is, he can tell that Kyoutani is just as disappointed, and that seems to help. He likes the fact that they don't even need to talk about it, because Yahaba honestly doesn't think that he _wants_ to, but this is enough. 

"We'll do better next time," Yahaba says, when he's getting ready to leave. Kyoutani just nods, walking him to the door, Saorin cuddled in one arm. 

"See you tomorrow morning for our walk," Kyoutani replies, and it's the only things they've said to each other since leaving the gymnasium but somehow, it feels like enough.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Practice the next morning has an entirely different tone to it. Everyone is quieter, more serious as they set the courts up and begin warming up. The coaches aren't here yet, and both Yahaba and Kyoutani start off with serving practice. 

Yahaba's serve placement is getting more accurate, and he places markers on the other side of the court, trying to hit them with his serves. It's going to take him some time to get there, but he knows it'll be worth it in the end. He remembers watching Oikawa target specific players when serving, remembers the way it can disrupt the entire rhythm of the defence. He wants that, he wants to be good enough to throw the opposing team into disarray, making sure that they don't have the time to regroup before they have to deal with the next attack. 

Most of the time, it feels like the things Yahaba is aiming for are far beyond his reach. As frustrating as it can be, he isn't willing to let that stop him. It doesn't matter if he shoots for the stars and ends up somewhere just below them. It's still going to be much further than he currently is, and that's all that he wants right now. He just wants to be _better_ , both as an individual player as well as a member of his team.

It's clear, watching the others practice, that he's not the only one thinking this way. It's reassuring, to have everyone from the first year reserves to his fellow third years doing what they can. 

Irihata and Mizoguchi bring out the training plan for the team, and it's a little brutal, but Yahaba knows that it's what they're going to need in order to make a visible improvement by the time the Interhigh preliminaries begin. 

He meets with the coaches, with Kyoutani coming along as vice captain, and the four of them talk about where they can go from here. They discuss strategy, game analysis, and Irihata gives them both pointers for how to get more out of watching match recordings, the differences in what to look for when on the court, or when watching something as part of the audience. 

"You'll be doing a lot of both when we get to the Interhigh preliminaries," Mizoguchi tells them. "The level of our team is high enough that the first couple of rounds shouldn't pose too much of a challenge. It's best to use that time to scope out the stronger schools in between matches. If you start learning what to look out for now, it'll come as second nature to you by the time you're sitting there in the audience." 

With all the practice that Irihata and Mizoguchi heap on him, Yahaba has little choice but to learn how to become incredibly good at keeping track of several things at once. They give him more responsibility when it comes to running practices, which means that he needs to not only focus on what he's working on, but also keep an eye on the rest of the team as well, knowing when to step in to fix mistakes or stop them before they even happen, and when to stay back and let the rest of his teammates work it out on their own. It's a lot to handle, but Yahaba gets there, because he's determined not to give up.

It makes him better on the court, too. Keeping track of Kyoutani is one thing, but there are four other teammates on the court as well, and Yahaba slowly learns how to figure out where each and every one of them are. His practice feels much more mental than physical, but after just the first week of it, Yahaba already knows that it's coming to him much easier than it used to. That alone is enough to encourage him to keep going. 

Kyoutani is there as a constant support, along with Watari, and they start spending their lunch breaks together on a regular basis, either talking about volleyball and what they can try out at their next practice, or talking about something else, just so that they can have a break.

Watari's crush on the girl from the basketball team, Ishiguro, also gets much more obvious. She isn't in their class, and she's not in Kyoutani's class either, so they don't get much of a chance to catch him speaking to her, but they quickly realise that they live near enough to each other that they usually see each other on their walk to school, early in the morning when they're both on their way to practice. 

"Do you think that maybe she doesn't take me seriously because she's taller than I am?" Watari asks nervously one lunch time, when he's fretting over the fact that he did see Ishiguro on his walk to school that morning. "I mean, she's taller than average and I'm… shorter than average. That's not exactly the best combination, right? Even if she liked me as a person, maybe she wouldn't _like_ me because we'd look ridiculous together."

"That's stupid," Kyoutani dismisses. "Who cares about that stuff? If you're into someone, then you're into them. End of story."

"It's not that simple," Watari sighs. "I mean, if you wanted to date someone, but you knew that if you did, people would laugh at you for it, or they'd judge you just from seeing you out on the street together, wouldn't that stop you?"

"I wouldn't let anything stop me," Kyoutani growls out, and Yahaba blinks with surprise at the sudden anger. "Fuck what anyone else thinks. Anyway, I forgot I had to do something. I'll talk to you later."

He gets up, chair scraping against the floor, and storms out of the classroom. Watari watches him go, before he turns to Yahaba with a frown.

"Did I offend him?"

In all honesty, Yahaba thinks, it certainly looks like Kyoutani _is_ offended, but he doesn't exactly want to say that.

"I'll go find him," Yahaba offers instead, getting to his feet. "I don't know, maybe he's just in a bad mood. I'll talk to him, don't worry."

"Will you apologise for me?" Watari asks, chewing on his lip. "I really didn't mean to―"

"Watari, it's fine," Yahaba assures him. "I'll tell him you're sorry. And for the record, I get what you mean, about how someone might be reluctant to date someone else because of how it'll look to other people. But if you like her, and she likes you, I think that's more important. Maybe just focus on that first. The rest can come later."

Watari nods in thanks, and Yahaba waves before he walks out of the classroom.

He isn't even entirely sure where to find Kyoutani when he starts looking, but he gets outside and instinctively starts walking towards the gymnasium. He doesn't even know if he should be surprised when he finds Kyoutani leaning against the wall, on the side furthest away from the rest of the school. 

"Watari's sorry," Yahaba calls out, watching as Kyoutani freezes up. "He didn't meant to offend you. He doesn't really know how he did, but he's sorry anyway. If you tell him what he did wrong, he won't do it again. He's a nice guy, you know. He wouldn't—"

"It's none of his business," Kyoutani snaps out, his arms folded across his chest. "I don't have to explain anything to anyone." 

Yahaba rocks back on his heels and takes a deep breath. "That's true, you don't. If you really don't want to talk about it, then I'm not going to push you. Just don't be mad at Watari for it, okay? Whatever he did, you can be sure that he didn't mean to."

"I know that." Kyoutani sighs loudly, rubbing a hand over his face. "It's fine, it just… struck a nerve, that's all. I didn't mean to snap like that. I shouldn't have done that."

"We can't help it when we're upset," Yahaba replies quietly, walking closer to Kyoutani. 

"What would you do?" Kyoutani asks. "In Watari's position. If you wanted to date someone, but you knew that you'd get weird looks just for being out with them?"

Yahaba shifts uncomfortably, his thoughts taking him somewhere he tries his best to avoid. He looks away from Kyoutani as he speaks. "I can't say I'm like you, that I wouldn't let it bother me at all. I'd have to consider it."

Kyoutani snorts quietly, but he sounds amused instead of dismissive when he says, "Of course you would. You're very careful about what you let other people see, aren't you?" 

"More than that," Yahaba says. "Just knowing that people might laugh at me, I think, would make me a bit reluctant. Like with Watari and Ishiguro, maybe they wouldn't want to go out on dates where other people can see them because they might get laughed at. They could still go on dates together somewhere quiet, I guess. There might be ways around it. Maybe it's not just what you want, but what both of you want? But honestly, I don't even know if Ishiguro likes Watari back, so for all we know, it might just be a moot point—"

"She likes him," Kyoutani cuts Yahaba off, shaking his head. "Of course she likes him. She was there for the entire match, you know. When you walked Karasuno out to their bus, she was still there. She was the last to leave. Do you think she'd do that if she didn't like him?"

"I don't know," Yahaba shrugs. "Maybe they're just friends."

"Maybe you're just thick," Kyoutani says, but he's using that same tone from before, not quite playful, but clearly not serious. "What is it like, walking around and not taking notice of anything around you, Yahaba?"

"Fuck you, I'm _incredibly_ observant," Yahaba replies, folding his arms across his chest. "Now come on, are you going to keep hiding out here, or do you want to head back to the classrooms? This is like the time Saorin sulked behind the table where she thought we couldn't see her, just because we wouldn't give her any more treats."

That, at least, makes Kyoutani smile. "Show me that photo you took of her yesterday."

"I sent it to you," Yahaba points out, but he pulls his phone out anyway, opening his photo library. He caught her in the middle of a yawn, and Yahaba is pretty sure he can feel Kyoutani melting a little beside him as they both look at the photo. 

"Ready to head back?" Yahaba asks quietly, and Kyoutani nods, letting him lead the way.


	4. Chapter 4

"You know," Watari says to Yahaba the next morning when they get to homeroom, "you can tell me anything, right?" 

Yahaba blinks at him. "Right?" 

"Anything at all," Watari stresses. "I know I've been talking to you a lot about Ishiguro lately and dumping all my problems on you, but I don't want you to think that this is just a one way thing, okay? If there's anything that might be bothering you, or anything that you feel like you need to put into words so you can figure it out with someone, just let me know. Okay?"

Yahaba narrows his eyes at Watari suspiciously. "What's wrong with you all of a sudden?"

"Nothing," Watari says quickly. "I'm just. I'm being a good friend. A supportive friend. A good, supportive friend. That's me. Obviously, I'm not asking you to talk to me right now, out in the open like this, but you can message me. Email me. Whatever you want. Whenever."

"I'll keep that in mind," Yahaba replies slowly, frowning in confusion as they both sit down.

Watari has been acting strange lately, ever since the time he accidentally made Kyoutani storm out during lunch. Yahaba doesn't really get it, and Watari's being so cryptic about everything he says that Yahaba doesn't even know where to begin to unravel what he actually means. He hopes that whatever it is, Watari will get frustrated and just end up spelling it out for Yahaba. Watari is usually a fairly direct person, so whatever he's doing right now must be frustrating him just as much as it's frustrating Yahaba. All Yahaba needs to do is to wait it out. Hopefully, it won't take much longer. 

At the very least, Watari seems to be talking to Ishiguro more often these days. That, as far as Yahaba can tell, isn't linked to his strange behaviour at all, because he's incredibly natural when talking to her. Maybe it comes from the fact that they've been walking to school together for so long. If they can get along when they're still just waking up, then a conversation in the middle of the day probably doesn't seem like a big deal at all, crush or no crush. 

Yahaba quietly envies him for it. There are girls who have started talking to him more often, now that he's become the captain of the volleyball team, but none of his conversations with them feel half as natural as what Watari manages with Ishiguro, and he doesn't even _like_ any of them that way. It all just feels a little too forced and he doesn't know anything else they're interested in beyond volleyball and how the team is doing, and there are only so many times he can talk about that before he starts boring himself, too. 

He doesn't know how Oikawa dealt with this, but he supposes that at least in Oikawa's case, he could talk about himself. Yahaba doesn't feel quite as comfortable doing that. 

Luckily, having Kyoutani sit with him during lunch time tends to keep the girls away. Watari isn't sitting with them this time, because he's standing out in the hallway talking to Ishiguro. Kyoutani takes Watari's seat instead of pulling another chair over, opening his lunch box and pulling out a sandwich. Kyoutani's mother works full time and tends to leave early in the day, so Kyoutani makes his own lunch. He seems to be good at it; yet another thing in the endless list that Kyoutani can do that Yahaba can't, but it's beginning to feel more like trivia now than the one-sided competition that it used to be in Yahaba's head. 

"I passed Watari and Ishiguro in the hallway on my way here," Kyoutani tells Yahaba. "I think he comes up to her chest." 

Yahaba snorts quietly, then covers his mouth. "That was mean, I shouldn't have laughed." 

"I always knew you were a dick," Kyoutani grins, kicking Yahaba under the table. "I'm telling Watari." 

"Shut up, you're not telling him anything," Yahaba replies. "Don't you dare. You're the one who started off comparing their heights."

"I was just being informative. You're the one who laughed," Kyoutani replies, laughing quietly, and Yahaba freezes when he notices some of his classmates turning in their direction. 

"Why," Kyoutani says quietly, "are they staring at us like that?"

"You laughed," Yahaba realises, sitting up a little straighter. "I made you laugh. I don't think most of our grade has seen you even crack a smile. For that matter, I doubt that most the people you've ever met in your life have ever seen you smile."

"I'm going to take offence at that even though it's true," Kyoutani tells him, sticking his middle finger up at Yahaba. "It's not a big deal. They can get over it."

Yahaba privately disagrees. Making Kyoutani laugh when it's just the two of them alone feels like an achievement in itself. Having him laughing in front of other people feels like a massive victory. It's not even that Yahaba _wants_ to make Kyoutani into a friendlier person, because he honestly doesn't think that's going to happen, but having him be more comfortable to express himself is a good thing, no matter what. Yahaba will do whatever he can to encourage that. 

Watari doesn't come back to the classroom until the very end of lunch, once Kyoutani's already gone back to his own homeroom. Yahaba looks up, raising an eyebrow when he finds that Watari is practically trembling. 

"What's up?" 

"I have a girlfriend," Watari whispers to Yahaba. "I asked Ishiguro if she'll date me and _she said yes_. She doesn't care if I'm shorter than she is. We're going out to the movies on the weekend." 

"Nice," Yahaba grins, bumping his fist against Watari's. "I'm glad that you asked her out anyway. Good work, Watari. I better not see you slack off at training because of this. If anything, you'd better be working twice as hard to impress your girlfriend." 

Watari laughs quietly, still sounding a little shaky with excitement. Yahaba is truly happy for him, patting him on the shoulder when he sits down, and then gleefully informing the rest of the volleyball club when they're in the club room, grinning proudly as they whoop until Watari turns bright red. 

Kyoutani, Yahaba notices, falters as he's pulling his sport shirt on. It's a curious reaction, but Yahaba doesn't have the time to question him on it before they have to get to the gymnasium. 

He doesn't really know how to bring it up when they're walking to Kyoutani's place afterwards either. He keeps coming up with opening lines in his head, only to discard them when he realises that he doesn't really know where he's going with them. He wishes that Kyoutani were easier to understand; every time Yahaba feels like he's making some progress, there's something else that pops up, making little to no sense at all. 

"We're taking Saorin to the vet today, right?" he asks instead, because at least he knows how to talk about their puppy. They've been pooling their savings recently, making sure that they have enough to afford the vaccinations that Saorin needs now that she's old enough for them. "Are we going with Mori-san?" 

"We can go on our own," Kyoutani replies, shaking his head. "She said that she'll call the vet today and let them know that we're taking Saorin there instead of her. We can handle her between the two of us."

"How do dogs respond to needles?" Yahaba asks, picking at the strap of his bag as they walk. "Do they get scared from the moment they see the needle, like humans do?"

"Are you saying you're afraid of needles, Yahaba?" Kyoutani asks, raising an eyebrow, but then he shrugs it off. "I don't think dogs like being at the vet at all. They only ever really go there if something's going wrong, right? Even if it's just a stranger poking at them to make sure that everything's okay. My old dog would dig his heels in the moment we got within a block of the vet's, because he didn't want to go in. Maybe she won't be like that just yet, but it's not exactly the most comfortable environment, is it? She'll probably freeze up a little. The needles might hurt. She'll be okay, though. We'll be there for her."

"Yeah," Yahaba says, nodding and feeling a little better just at that knowledge. "She can feel safe when she's with us."

Saorin is curious in the vet's waiting room, wandering off to sniff at the other pets that are also there, until Yahaba or Kyoutani pick her up and put her back on the bench beside them. She doesn't seem to be bothered by the environment at all, but it's a different matter when they're actually called into the vet's office. The stainless steel bench and the white fluorescent lighting immediately makes everything seem a little bit colder. Saorin sits on the bench, trying to make herself as small as possible. Yahaba strokes her back, murmuring gently in encouragement, glad when she relaxes a little against his touch. 

Kyoutani answers all of the vet's questions about how Saorin has been doing since they first brought her in. She needs two needles and she's brave for the first, but then she cries at the second one, a soft yelp that has Kyoutani stroking the soft fur of her head, murmuring in apology to her, his fingers warm as they brush against Yahaba's, but neither of them pull away. Yahaba focuses on Saorin instead, waiting for her to stop trembling. 

"She did well," the vet says, sounding pleased. "I'll contact Mori-san when it's time to bring Saorin in again. Until then, it looks like she's being taken care of properly. Good work." 

They thank him, paying for the vaccinations at the counter before leaving. Kyoutani carries Saorin inside his hoodie, her leash stuffed into his pocket, and she seems to be content with the extra contact, settling against him. 

When they're in Kyoutani's room, with their books out to do their homework, he hands Saorin over to Yahaba, so that she can cuddle against him instead. She shifts a little in her sleep before settling, and Yahaba smiles down at her in his lap before he turns his attention back to the work in front of him. 

"Do you have something against Watari dating Ishiguro?" Yahaba asks, breaking the silence when he doesn't want to deal with a physics question that he's struggling with. 

Kyoutani looks up from his books. "What?"

"It's just…" Yahaba bites his lip. "Something felt a bit off to me, when I was telling everyone that Watari and Ishiguro are dating in the club room." 

"Maybe it's because you should have asked him first."

"I wouldn't have told everyone if I didn't check beforehand that he was okay with people knowing," Yahaba replies. "Maybe he didn't expect it to happen right there, but he was happy enough about it."

"I don't have a problem with Watari, or his girlfriend," Kyoutani mutters.

"Oh," Yahaba realises. "You're jealous, aren't you?"

"What?" Kyoutani asks, so quickly that Yahaba knows that he has to be right. 

"You _are_ ," Yahaba grins. "Is it because all the girls in our grade are too afraid to approach you? Do you want tips on how to make conversation with them?'

"I don't—" Kyoutani says loudly, before he cuts himself off, sighing. "Why would I take tips from you, anyway? You suck at making conversation with girls. I've seen you try. You always look so relieved when I show up and they scatter." 

"No I don't," Yahaba mutters. "I could talk to a girl whenever I wanted to. I just don't have the time right now, in between school work and volleyball and Saorin." 

"Yeah," Kyoutani's voice is quieter now. "Who needs anything more than that, huh? Anyway, don't think I haven't noticed you stalling. Hurry up and finish doing that physics question so I can laugh at how wrong you are." 

"You're meant to be helping me," Yahaba mutters, shaking his head as he puts his head down and gets back to the question, frowning at it and trying to figure out what it's actually asking. 

"I _am_ helping you," Kyoutani replies. "If you don't want me to laugh at you, don't get the question wrong. It's just as simple as that." 

"Not simple at all," Yahaba mutters, and he doesn't know whether to be pleased or irritated when he gets the question right with his first try. 

 

 

* * *

 

 

Watari dating Ishiguro means that Yahaba becomes vaguely familiar with the girls' basketball team. On Monday, Watari uses their lack of practice to drag Yahaba and Kyoutani over to watch yet another practice match on the basketball court. Ishiguro is playing well, as far as Yahaba can tell. Kyoutani leans against the railing of the balcony, chin resting in his hand, looking incredibly bored, but he doesn't leave even when Yahaba offers to cover for him. 

Once the match is over, with Aoba Jousai winning, Watari goes downstairs to congratulate Ishiguro. Yahaba and Kyoutani follow behind him at a much slower pace, to give him some time along with her. 

They're at the side of the court when Yahaba hears someone else in their grade snort quietly. "Hey, look at that shrimp trying to talk to Ishiguro. She could probably send him flying off with a sneeze. She's probably too nice to tell him to go away, huh? I should show her what a real guy looks like."

"Excuse me, Mr. Real Guy," Yahaba speaks up loudly. "If you have a problem with Ishiguro's boyfriend, you might want to say it to his face, you know? Unless you're too afraid to do anything but whisper behind his back." 

Watari and Ishiguro look over in their direction, along with some of the other girls in the team. The guy snorts dismissively, and Yahaba is about to take a step forward when he feels a hand grab the back of his jacket.

" _Down_ ," Kyoutani mutters, tightening his grip and holding Yahaba where he is. "This isn't worth starting a fight over. You can't afford that, as captain." 

"You should go," one of the other girls says, to the guy and his friends, standing her ground until they turn and leave. She turns to Yahaba with a smile. "You must be Yahaba, Watari's friend, right? I've heard about you. I'm Mishima, the team captain. I hear you're captain too."

"I am," Yahaba replies. "This is Kyoutani, he's our ace."

Kyoutani doesn't acknowledge Mishima, but she doesn't seem bothered by that, turning to Yahaba instead. 

"You won't believe how much of that they've been getting since they started dating," Mishima says, looking over her shoulder to where Watari and Ishiguro are turned to each other again, talking to each other and smiling. "At least they don't seem to let it get to them. It's nice to know that Watari has friends that will stick up for him."

"Of course he does," Kyoutani snorts. "They wouldn't really be friends, otherwise." 

Mishima smiles. "You're right. I guess it's important for teammates to have each other's backs, too. If I heard one of the girls in the team saying anything behind Ishiguro's back about her boyfriend, I wouldn't tolerate that either."

"Right," Yahaba agrees. "It's important to have cohesion within the team. If we can't trust each other off the court, them we're not really going to trust each other when we're playing on the court either, are we?"

Mishima's smile grows wider. "You get me. It's a captain thing, isn't it?"

Kyoutani doesn't look particularly interested in the conversation, but he rarely ever does. As far as Yahaba's concerned, the fact that he's not just walking away from them entirely says enough. He hangs to the side while Mishima and Yahaba talk, watching them from the corner of his eye, and Yahaba honestly wants to just laugh and tell him to join in if he wants to, but he knows that it's not going to go well, so he holds his silence and focuses his attention on his conversation with Mishima instead.

"I've seen you guys around more and more, lately," Mishima says, looking between both Yahaba and Kyoutani. "I guess that considering our friends are dating, we'll probably end up seeing more of each other too."

"You're most likely right," Yahaba says with a smile. "I'm glad I've finally been able to meet you for myself. Watari's mentioned you in passing before. You're just as nice as he says you are."

Mishima grins at him. "You're not bad, yourself. I didn't know what to expect from the new volleyball captain. Maybe another Oikawa-san." 

Yahaba laughs, rubbing the back of his neck, suddenly aware of Kyoutani's gaze on him. "Well, Oikawa-san's a little difficult to duplicate, isn't he? He's always been one of a kind. I'll tell you what, though, he's definitely a tough act to follow."

"You're doing fine from what I can tell," Mishima tells him with a smile. "I'll tell you what, it's nice when the girls in the basketball club show up to practice when they're not in first string, instead of just going over to the volleyball courts to wait for Oikawa-san to finish practice."

Yahaba laughs again, hoping that it doesn't sound too forced. "We definitely don't get that since he graduated. It's nice to be able to get out of the gym without having to dodge your way through his fans, though. I don't really miss that." 

Kyoutani snorts quietly under his breath, but when Yahaba tries to make eye contact, he's not looking. Yahaba sighs quietly, turning to Mishima with a polite smile. 

"Anyway, I don't think Watari's going to be done with Ishiguro any time soon, so we might just leave him to it." Yahaba turns to leave, and Kyoutani is already at his side, walking out of the gym. 

"What the hell," Kyoutani mutters under his breath as they fall in step with each other. "Do you think that you're not as good as Oikawa because you don't have as many fangirls as he does?" 

"Fans, in general," Yahaba corrects, out of habit, and then he sighs quietly. "There's no reasonable way anyone else would have that many people following him around. I don't think I want that at all. It's just—"

"When are you going to stop comparing yourself to Oikawa?" Kyoutani wonders aloud, raising an eyebrow at Yahaba. "I don't want to play with a cheap imitation of Oikawa. You don't want to _be_ a cheap imitation of Oikawa. Just forget about it." 

"Easy for you to say," Yahaba mutters, shaking his head. 

"Listen," Kyoutani speaks up, frowning. "I know I'm not Iwaizumi, okay? The whole team looked up to him. Some of the first years still pick up their pace if they know I'm walking behind them. I'm not the kind of vice-captain who can just step up and make people feel better about themselves and about the team in general. I'm still not at Iwaizumi's level when it comes to spiking or anything either, and I sure as hell can't receive as well as he does. You think I spend all of my time obsessing over that?" 

"That's different," Yahaba says, and Kyoutani rolls his eyes. Yahaba frowns. "It _is_. You could have been a starting member any time you wanted to, with your talent."

"And maybe the only reason you weren't is because the team had Oikawa as setter," Kyoutani replies, "but that's not a reflection on you, okay? I thought you figured that out already. On any other team, maybe you would have been setter. You've been the reserve even while Oikawa was starting, right? I don't think that Oikawa is the type of person to send someone in to replace him if he doesn't think they're actually worth it." 

Yahaba falls silent, thinking this through, and Kyoutani sighs loudly, his arm brushing against Yahaba's as he starts walking faster. "Come on. I wanted to try teaching Saorin how to roll over." 

Smiling at Kyoutani's back, Yahaba clears his throat. "Yeah. Let's go. "

 

 

* * *

 

 

"So hey," Watari says, after a week and a half of dating Ishiguro, catching Yahaba just before home room in the morning. "Ishiguro-san and I were going to the arcade on the weekend. Do you want to come as well?" 

"Won't I end up being a third wheel?" Yahaba asks, frowning. "No thank you."

"Ishiguro's asking Mishima if she wants to come, too," Watari says. "It'll be fun. You should join us."

"I'll think about it," Yahaba replies with a shrug. 

Kyoutani's parents are home on the weekend, which means that they can't really spend their time with Saorin anyway. Yahaba wasn't entirely sure what he was going to do on the weekend. 

Yahaba parts ways with Watari as they go into their own home rooms, and he shakes his head at himself. He doesn't have very much time for anything outside of school and volleyball, but Saorin has quickly come to take up whatever he has left. 

He might not be Oikawa, but it's impossible not to dedicate three entire years of middle school and then three years of high school to volleyball without it becoming incredibly important to him. He's never really expected to find something that he cares about as much, and as eager as he was to help Saorin when he and Kyoutani found her, he never expected for her to become quite so important to him.

It's not such a bad thing, though. She's a good dog, and Yahaba is grateful for the fact that spending so much time with her means that he and Kyoutani have been able to learn how to work with each other a bit better. It's beneficial for the entire team, really. Besides, going to the arcade sounds fun, and it might be good to spend some time out with people who aren't Kyoutani.

Except, at lunch time, when Watari goes off to eat lunch with Ishiguro, Yahaba sits down with Kyoutani and says, "Watari invited me to the arcade with him and his girlfriend this weekend."

Kyoutani raises an eyebrow, halfway through eating his sandwich. He swallows his mouthful and says, "So?"

"So I'm inviting you too." Yahaba rolls his eyes. "What do you need, a handwritten invitation or something?"

"Stop being a dick," Kyoutani mutters, so casually that Yahaba can't even feel self-righteous about it. "I wasn't expecting you to invite me too, that's all."

"Why wouldn't I?" Yahaba frowns. "We're friends." 

He doesn't expect Kyoutani to actually put his sandwich down and stare in surprise, the way he does. 

"What?" Yahaba's aware that he sounds a little irritable, and that he suddenly feels incredibly self-conscious. "I mean, if you want to go back to us tearing into each other and every chance we get—"

"Yahaba," Kyoutani interrupts. He kicks Yahaba's foot under the table, but it's gentle. He isn't quite smiling, but there's something a little softer than usual in his expression. "I didn't even say anything."

"Yeah, well, you usually don't," Yahaba replies, but he's relieved that Kyoutani clearly isn't about to tell him that he's wrong.

"It's just that you've never said it before," Kyoutani mumbles, dropping his gaze to his sandwich and picking at it absently instead of eating it. "You've never called me your _friend_." 

"Well, that's what we are," Yahaba tells him, and it's his turn to kick Kyoutani gently under the table. "I mean, what the hell. We eat lunch together, right? And there's…"

He trails off, not wanting to mention Saorin when they're in the middle of a classroom, just in case. Kyoutani seems to get it anyway, though, because he nods. 

"Yeah, you're right."

"So are you coming with us to the arcade?" 

Kyoutani grins. "Of course I am. I'm gonna kick your ass at every game."

Shoving him gently, Yahaba laughs. "I'd like to see you try."

[ ](http://fromthefarshore.tumblr.com/post/149757063317/)

That weekend, when Yahaba and Kyoutani show up at the arcade together, Watari looks between the two of them with a light frown. Kyoutani hangs back, his hands in his pockets, until Yahaba sighs and grabs him by the arm, dragging him inside.

"I told you I'm bringing Kyoutani, right?" he asks, even though he knows that he hasn't. Yahaba can't even fully explain _why_ he felt the need to keep it to himself, but he did. 

Watari doesn't call him out on it, because he's too nice for that. Instead, he turns to Kyoutani with an easy grin. "Hey. I'm glad you could come too."

Yahaba still catches the look of frustration that Watari sends in his direction, but he brushes it off because Ishiguro and Mishima are both walking over to join them too.

"Hey, Yahaba and Kyoutani, right?" Mishima smiles at them. "See, I was right when I said that we'd see each other around!"

Yahaba smiles, letting Watari and Ishiguro lead the way over to the counter so they can buy their tickets.

He isn't surprised that he and Kyoutani end up getting competitive over every single game they play. He's pleasantly surprised when Mishima joins in, and she beats them both at every single one that requires any kind of aiming.

"Damn, you're clearly the captain for a reason," Yahaba laughs, when she solidly beats him at a shooting game for the third time. "Alright, Kyoutani, get over here and I can beat you instead."

"Like hell," Kyoutani grunts, feeding more tokens into the machine so that the game starts up again. "Loser buys the winner ice cream. I want chocolate."

"Don't sound so sure of yourself, asshole," Yahaba grins. "I want mint chocolate."

"Whoa, just because it's part of our team colours, doesn't mean you have to dedicate yourself like that. It's creepy."

"Shut up," Yahaba laughs, shoving at Kyoutani, just as the game starts.

" _Cheater_ ," Kyoutani accuses, scrambling to get back in front of the screen so he can start shooting zombies as they appear. "Fuck you, I'm beating you anyway."

"Manners," Yahaba shoots back. "We're in public, you know."

"Then stop being so awful," Kyoutani mutters, and they trade jabs the entire way through the game, until Yahaba wins by one shot.

"Mint chocolate ice cream," Yahaba repeats with a smirk.

"You only won because you pushed me," Kyoutani protests, and Mishima's laugh draws both their attention.

"You're really good friends, aren't you?" she asks, smiling.

"No we're not," they both reply in unison, before turning to stare at each other.

"We're not," Yahaba repeats, rubbing the back of his neck. "I hated this guy all through first and second year."

"Yeah well you weren't exactly the easiest person to get along with either, you know," Kyoutani grumbles.

"It seems to me like you've gotten there, though," Mishima laughs softly. "It's nice to see."

When they all part ways to go home, Kyoutani makes his excuses to leave alone, clearly done with socialising for the day. Ishiguro and Mishima leave together, and it's just Yahaba and Watari walking to the station together. 

"You didn't mention you were inviting Kyoutani along," Watari says at length, while they wait for their train.

"Should I have?" Yahaba asks, raising an eyebrow. "I mean, he's usually with us if we're doing things together at school, like when we're eating lunch, right? And you invited Ishiguro, so…"

"Oh," Watari says softly, and then turns to Yahaba, fixing him with such a serious look that it's a little terrifying. 

"What did I do?" Yahaba asks uneasily.

"Nothing," Watari tells him, patting him on the shoulder. "But you know we're best friends, right? Nothing's going to change that. I just want to make sure you know that."

"You're being weird," Yahaba tells him, shaking his head. "But thanks, I guess?"

 

 

* * *

 

 

Perhaps it's because he's never really taken noticed of Mishima before, but Yahaba finds that he keeps bumping into her all over the school lately. They see each other when they're walking to their home room classes, or in the halls at lunch time, or after class has ended and they're making their way to their club rooms. 

She's incredibly easy to get along with, and it's probably because she's always so relaxed about everything. It's clear that she's shouldering a lot of responsibility, being the captain of the basketball team, but she doesn't let it show. She's so relaxed that Yahaba is pretty sure that it makes _him_ feel more relaxed, and when he mentions that to her, she just laughs.

"I don't think I'm really that relaxed at all," she tells him, as they walk to their club rooms. "Maybe I just hide it better. I don't think it's even possible to be relaxed when you're trying to balance captaincy with all the homework our teachers insist on piling on top of us."

Yahaba groans. "You can say that again. I don't even know when I'm meant to actually fit _sleep_ in between everything else."

She laughs at that. "I usually fit my homework somewhere in the morning, before I get to school. I'm always too tired after I get home from practice."

Yahaba thinks that it's lucky that he and Kyoutani have the time to sit down and relax with Saorin after practice, because it means that they can turn their attention to their homework after. Yahaba has really come to appreciate the quiet moments he gets, sitting in Kyoutani's room with their homework spread out in front of them and Saorin napping between them.

He keeps that to himself, though, and gives Mishima a smile. "That's a clever thing to do. I might try that, sometime."

The basketball club room is closer than the volleyball club, and Mishima waves at him before climbing the stairs. Yahaba keeps walking, slowing only when he sees Kyoutani waiting for him by the steps leading up to the volleyball club room.

"What's up?" Yahaba asks, because it isn't like Kyoutani to wait for him anywhere, especially somewhere that he might be seen. 

"I know you said that you wanted to work on that big literature assignment we have this afternoon, but I wasn't sure if you wanted to go home to work on it, or if you wanted to come over to my place." Kyoutani glances around, lowering his voice before he continues. "Maybe if we've got time in between working on our assignments, we can train Saorin a bit? I've been looking up how to teach her to fetch. I think we can do it."

Yahaba grins. "Yeah? That sounds good. I have my assignment with me anyway, so I can come over to your place. It'll be nice to get breaks to teach Saorin new things anyway."

"Awesome," Kyoutani nods. "It's decided, then."

The team doesn't even seem surprised when Yahaba and Kyoutani wait for each other after practice any more. Watari raises his eyebrows at Yahaba before waving and saying that he's going to find Ishiguro and walk home with her. Kyoutani hangs back, waiting until everyone else has left before he pulls out his phone. 

"I was watching videos about teaching dogs how to fetch last night. I'll show you these two when we get to my place." 

Kyoutani is always so enthusiastic about teaching Saorin new things, and it's infectious. It makes Yahaba look forward to getting to Kyoutani's place, to dropping by Mori-san's house and picking up Saorin for the afternoon before giving her back. He hasn't been looking forward to working on his assignment after practice but now, even that doesn't seem quite as bad with the promise of being able to do more interesting things in between. 

As difficult as it is to balance his time between everything, Yahaba knows that Kyoutani and Saorin make it that little bit more possible. It's still difficult, but he doesn't really have a choice _but_ to make it work, if he wants to spend time with Saorin. Luckily for Yahaba, Kyoutani doesn't really mind if they just sit in silence and do their work anyway. 

Yahaba is starting to get comfortable with where he is. The team is doing well at practice, and the coaches seem satisfied with Yahaba's decisions. Kyoutani's room is beginning to feel familiar, from all the time Yahaba spends in it. Saorin is growing with each passing day, and she's learning so quickly that Yahaba is incredibly impressed. 

"She's clever, isn't she?" Kyoutani asks with a grin, picking her up and kissing the top of her head once she's successfully learned to fetch her toys from across the room. 

"She's the best," Yahaba agrees, taking her from Kyoutani's hands and cuddling her as well. "We're pretty lucky to have such a clever pup, huh?"

Kyoutani scratches behind Saorin's ear as Yahaba holds her, and she makes a happy noise that makes them both melt. 

"I swear," Kyoutani murmurs, smiling down at her fondly, "sometimes, it feels like Saorin is the best thing that's ever happened to me."

Yahaba snorts quietly, giving Kyoutani a gentle push. "I can't believe you're this sappy. It's kind of embarrassing. "

"Shut up," Kyoutani laughs, but he doesn't push Yahaba back, being mindful of Saorin. "As if you don't think the same thing. The first thing you do every morning when you see me is ask how she's been since you left the day before. She has you completely smitten."

"Well, I mean," Yahaba turns Saorin around so she's looking at Kyoutani. "Do you know anyone who could say no to a face like this?"

Leaning it to bump his nose against Saorin's, Kyoutani grins. "Not at all." 

 

 

* * *

 

 

The team feels more cohesive these days, and Yahaba knows that it's because he and Kyoutani have finally found their footing with each other. They present a united front as they approach practice drills and as they strategise with the coaches, and the rest of the team falls in to place behind them. 

Kyoutani seems to get it too, and they grin at each other as Mizoguchi mentions just how well they've all been doing recently. They break off to pack the equipment away and Kyoutani walks over to Yahaba, slapping him gently on the back.

"Good job, captain."

The words make him stand a little straighter, feeling pleased. Kyoutani notices, and he laughs softly. 

"Seriously, though," he says, quieter this time. He's still resting his hand on Yahaba's back. "I think you're doing really well."

"You're not too bad yourself, vice-captain," Yahaba replies. "Come on. Let's take down the nets."

With the entire team working together, they get the gym packed up fairly quickly. Most of them go straight to the club room to change, but Yahaba hangs back out of habit, so there'll be fewer people in the club room by the time he gets there. Kyoutani does the same, and by the time they finally get to the club room, it's only them, Watari, Kindaichi and Kunimi left.

"Hey guys," Watari says, clearing his throat as they all finish changing. "Can I just have a quick word?"

"Yeah?" Yahaba frowns as he notices the way Kindaichi and Kunimi glance at each other and then make their exit soon after. "What's up?"

Shutting his locker, Watari turns to Yahaba and Kyoutani and sighs. "This is kind of awkward, and I'm really sorry, but I figured that I really need to mention it to you now, before it comes from someone else?"

Yahaba feels his heart sink, as his mind immediately comes up with countless things that Watari could be trying to say. Perhaps the team secretly hates him as captain, perhaps they don't think that he should be the starting setter, perhaps—

"Just hurry up and spit it out," Kyoutani says a bit gruffly, and it makes Watari flinch a little, blinking in surprise. 

"It's just—" Watari takes a deep breath and pats Yahaba on the shoulder. "The whole team's worked out that you're dating, okay? It's kind of obvious anyway, with the way you're always spending time with each other. I mean—it's not like we've actively _talked_ about it or anything, I don't want you think it's like that. I said that I'd talk to you about it after practice, but that's all. No one cares, okay? We're all supportive. As long as you're happy, that's all that matters." 

Yahaba blinks, too stunned to say anything. He turns to Kyoutani, who is just staring blankly at Watari.

"Anyway," Watari says, clearing his throat. "That's all I wanted to say. No one's judging you or anything, okay? I'll see you tomorrow."

He leaves, shutting the door softly behind him, leaving Yahaba and Kyoutani standing there in silence. 

It's Kyoutani who speaks first. "What the fuck."

"Um."

"What the _fuck_ , Yahaba?" Kyoutani asks, turning to him. 

"It's not _my_ fault," Yahaba snaps. 

"He's _your_ friend," Kyoutani mutters. "You must have said something to him, to give him the wrong idea."

"He said it's because we spend all of our time together!" Yahaba argues. "You know why that is. Do you want to tell everyone about Saorin?" 

"Shhh," Kyoutani hisses, covering Yahaba's mouth with his hand. "Not here." 

With a sigh, Yahaba leans his head back against the locker that Kyoutani has pushed him against, pulling the hand from his mouth. "Come on. We were heading to your place anyway."

By the time they lock up the club room, everyone else is gone. They walk out of the school together, and Yahaba waits until they're off the main road before he draws a breath to speak. 

"Do you want to tell the rest of the team about Saorin?"

"Can you trust them to keep a secret?" Kyoutani asks in return. "Watari might. Kunimi probably won't care. What about the rest of them?"

"We can't tell only some of them and expect them to keep the secret for us," Yahaba sighs. "I just—I don't want people thinking we're gay."

Kyoutani goes very still. "Is there a problem with that?"

Yahaba laughs shakily, looking away. "What kind of question is that? Do you really want people thinking that you're—"

" _I am_ ," Kyoutani cuts in. "I'm going to ask you again, Yahaba. Is there a problem with that?"

"Shit," Yahaba mutters with broken laugh. "Don't do this to me."

"Do what?" Kyoutani asks, his voice cold. They've stopped walking, and he's standing his ground, hands balled at his sides. "Don't do _what_ , Yahaba?"

Glancing around, just to make sure he won't be overheard, Yahaba lowers his voice and says, "I'm bi, okay? And you're the second person I've ever told in my life and I fucking swear, Kyoutani, if you tell anyone, I'm going to—"

"Like you said," Kyoutani interrupts, but his voice is gentler this time. "As far as the rest of the team is concerned, we like guys. If you're uncomfortable with it, we can just explain that we've been spending time together because of Saorin."

"And risk them talking about it, and our parents finding out, and her getting taken away?" Yahaba asks. He squeezes his eyes shut, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I don't know, Kyoutani. I don't know what to do."

"You're shaking," Kyoutani says quietly. "Um—look. Watari said that the team isn't going to judge us, right? What the hell are they going to do against their captain anyway? Let's just head to my place. You can cuddle Saorin for a bit. We'll see how things go tomorrow. If you want, I'll go talk to Watari and I'll figure something out. Don't stress out about it, okay?"

"Easier said than done," Yahaba mutters, but he doesn't protest as Kyoutani guides him down the street with a hand resting on his back. "But… thanks."

"It's fine," Kyoutani replies. "I mean, I get it. You're not alone in this. I'm not good at being supportive, or talking about feelings, or whatever, but I'm here anyway, yeah?"

"Yeah," Yahaba says with a small smile, and it might not change much in the big picture, but it makes him feel better all the same.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Yahaba doesn't sleep well that night, and he's both exhausted and nervous the next morning. He focuses on taking deep breaths as he stretches in his room, before he changes into his running gear and jogs to Kyoutani's place.

As usual, Kyoutani's waiting outside with Saorin on her leash, but Yahaba notices that he looks a little nervous as well. He looks up, meeting Yahaba's eyes, then looking away again.

"You don't look as calm as you were about this whole thing yesterday," Yahaba notes, as he reaches Kyoutani's side. He crouches to greet Saorin, smiling when she wags her tail and licks his face.

"Shut up, you don't look great either," Kyoutani mutters, scuffing his shoe against the path. "Besides, you're still more nervous than I am."

"I couldn't sleep at all last night," Yahaba admits with a quiet laugh, rubbing a hand over his face. "I keep trying to imagine what it'll be like when we walk into the gym today, after everyone knows that Watari's spoken to us. They think we're dating, and they're going to know that we know about it and… how are we even supposed to act?"

"Just like normal," Kyoutani replies, as they start walking. "You don't need to do anything different to what we're already doing. Don't overthink it."

"I've been trying not to, all night," Yahaba sighs. "It's no use."

"It's going to be fine," Kyoutani assures him. He pats Yahaba on the back a little awkwardly, and clears his throat. "Look, does this have anything to do with how you told me that I'm the _second_ person you've ever told about being bi?"

"Quiet," Yahaba snaps, glancing around nervously even though he knows that there's no one else around to overhear. He sighs loudly. "Yeah. I first figured out that I probably wasn't straight back in middle school. I just wanted to talk it out to someone and put it into words so it wouldn't feel as weird, but I guess I picked the wrong friend. By the next day, it had spread a lot further than I intended it to. It was just a rumour, and I did everything I could to get it back under control, but I've never spoken to anyone about it since then."

Kyoutani frowns as he walks and at length, he just says, "Fuck 'em. People who share secrets that aren't theirs to share piss me off."

"Yeah," Yahaba replies, and finds himself smiling at just how simply Kyoutani approaches the situation. "Me too."

"This isn't going to be like that, though," Kyoutani tells him. "The team isn't made of assholes like that. Whatever they think they know about us, I don't think it's going to make it outside of the volleyball club."

"I hope not," Yahaba sighs, balling his hands into fists at his sides so he doesn't have to feel the way that they tremble. 

"Here," Kyoutani says, handing Saorin's leash over. "Your turn."

Yahaba takes it, and he smiles as Saorin tugs on the leash in her eagerness to walk further. Yahaba picks up his pace, and he's so focused on watching where they're going that he doesn't even notice that he's stopped worrying about how the team is going to treat them, until they reach Mori-san's house. He turns to Kyoutani, raising an eyebrow. 

"What?" Kyoutani asks, but the look in his eyes tells him that he knows exactly what he's done. "Anyway, I need to get ready for school. I'll see you there, yeah?"

"Yeah," Yahaba nods, smiling at Kyoutani even though he can feel the worry creeping back as he turns to leave.

"Hey," Kyoutani calls out quietly, before Yahaba can head home. "If you want, we can meet somewhere on the way to school. So we both walk in together."

Yahaba laughs off the suggestion, about to turn Kyoutani down, but then another wave of uneasiness hits him and he feels his smile slip a little. He doesn't have to do this alone, he realises. Not with Kyoutani right there. "Maybe? If it's not too much trouble?"

"I'll meet you at the convenience store on the way to school?" Kyoutani asks, and Yahaba nods.

"Yeah. See you there."

Yahaba does his best to calm himself down in the time it takes to get home, get ready for school, and then meet Kyoutani. He thinks it's working, and Kyoutani looks at him when they start walking the rest of the way together, humming with satisfaction.

"You look a bit better."

"I feel a bit better too," Yahaba smiles. "We can do this. You're right. It's going to be fine."

It's a relief when they get to school, and find that it _is_ fine.

None of their teammates even mention it to begin with. The first years seem a bit clueless, but Yahaba supposes that they're new. The second years clearly know—or think they know, anyway. They don't treat Yahaba or Kyoutani any different to the way they usually do.

In fact, no one even mentions it until the end of morning practice, when they're done packing the gym away and are heading to the locker rooms. Kyoutani pats Yahaba on the back as they walk, and it's meant to be a reassuring gesture, but Watari immediately notices.

"I hope I didn't end up making you feel nervous," Watari speaks up softly, so that only the people around him can hear. "That really wasn't my intention. Like I said, everyone's supportive."

"We know that," Kyoutani speaks up, before Yahaba can just shrug it off, "but it's not exactly something that easy, from our side of things."

"Right," Watari nods. "Sorry. Maybe I shouldn't have said anything."

"It doesn't really change anything," Kunimi speaks up. "I mean, you're still the same people. Besides, it's not like it's the first time we've been on a team where the ace and captain were into each other, right?"

That, at least, makes them laugh, and the tension dissipates afterwards. Yahaba notices the way Kyoutani sends him a sidelong glance, as if to check on him, and he smiles in return. It's an enormous relief to have all of his fears be for nothing.

"We're not going to talk about it with anyone else," Kindaichi says seriously. "It's no one else's business anyway, right? It's not even our business."

"Thanks, Kindaichi," Yahaba replies, patting him on the back, and it helps him relax a little more. 

It really hasn't changed the way the team behaves at all. Perhaps it's fine to just let the team think what they want, Yahaba thinks. No one is going to think any less of him or Kyoutani for it.

Watari waits for Yahaba so that they can walk to their homeroom classes together. Kyoutani notices, walking ahead, and when it's just the two of them, Watari turns to look at Yahaba.

"I _am_ sorry if I made you stress out," Watari tells him, so sincerely that Yahaba just rubs the top of his head.

"It's fine. You didn't know. Besides, it all worked out in the end." 

"This is why I kept telling you that you're welcome to talk to me, whenever," Watari says. "Which you always are, okay? If you need to talk about anything at all. I'm here."

"I'll keep that in mind," Yahaba replies. "Thank you."

"And," Watari adds, with a quiet laugh. "I'm guessing that you're… probably not going to agree to double dates, huh?"

Yahaba laughs loudly. "Absolutely not."


	5. Chapter 5

The team is no different that afternoon when they're at practice. As relieving as it is, Yahaba doesn't get time to dwell on it for very long. Coach Irihata calls them all to him before they begin, holding his clipboard in his hand. There's a certain gleam in his eyes that Yahaba has learned to be wary of, because he's come to realise that it means that whatever he has planned, it's going to be tough on all of them. 

"We've been invited to a training camp for the duration of Golden Week," he tells them, looking between all the members of the volleyball club. "It's going to be held in Fukushima, with a few schools from there that we haven't had the chance to play with before. I think it will be a good learning experience for all of you."

There's an excited murmur that runs through everyone standing there. Yahaba glances over at Kyoutani, who is standing a little straighter, looking so _eager_ that he can't help but smile. Except Irihata isn't done yet, and the team falls silent once again, waiting for him to continue.

"Coach Mizoguchi has a few contacts in other areas," Irihata continues, and Yahaba glances at their second coach. "There's a school that he thinks will be good for us to play a practice match with, but they'll be attending their own training camp. They've been kind enough to agree to a match at the end of our respective training camps, so I hope you'll do your best to meet them everything that you learn over the course of the camp." 

With that, he hands practice over to Yahaba. Everyone on the team is bright-eyed with excitement and he grins at them all, using that to get them motivated for strengthening their basics.

"If we want to improve ourselves at training camp, we need to have solid foundations to build things on," he tells them. "Receiving. Serving. Blocking. We're going to be running drills in the lead up to Golden Week so we're ready to grow even more from there." 

The team shouts out an _ossu_ in unison, before scattering into groups to do their drills together. Kyoutani is in their number, teaming up with Kindaichi and a couple of the first years to do blocking drills. Watari is leading receiving drills, because it's his strength. That leaves serving to Yahaba, and he turns to the handful of club members with him, smiling at them before he leads the way to one of the courts at the end. 

They rotate drills throughout the course of the afternoon, and Yahaba is pleased to see that they're all pushing themselves incredibly hard. He's already beginning to see the difference it's making; some of the first years are growing in confidence, and Yahaba is beginning to be able to tell which ones will make good reserves, and which ones he'll work closer with to make sure that the team has good foundations by the end of the year, so he leaves Kindaichi and Kunimi with the beginnings of a good team. He'll have an even clearer picture after training camp is over, he thinks, and he's so caught up thinking about it while he packs away their equipment at the end of practice that he doesn't even realise that Kyoutani's standing there until they nearly bump into each other. 

"You're thinking hard," Kyoutani comments, raising an eyebrow at him.

"I'm sure you don't know what that's like," Yahaba replies breezily with a small grin, and gets a shove in response. 

"You know, if we're both going to be away at training camp," Kyoutani says, lowering his voice a little, "that means we're going to have to leave Saorin with Mori-san without seeing her for an entire week." 

Yahaba sighs, looking at the polished floor. "I did think about that." 

"It's going to suck," Kyoutani mutters, rubbing the back of his neck. "We're going to have to explain to Mori-san, huh?" 

"We'll talk to her this afternoon," Yahaba decides. "That way she knows in advance. Maybe we'll take Saorin on longer walks before we leave for camp?"

Kyoutani hums in thought. "We could get her a new ball or something. That way, she'll have something to play with even if Mori-san's other dogs don't feel like playing. So she won't get bored. Besides, Mori-san will probably take her for walks with her other dogs anyway. Even if they're shorter walks."

When they speak to Mori-san, she's completely understanding about it. The training camp is just around the corner, and even though Yahaba has it marked on his calendar, it still comes much quicker than he's expecting it to. He and Kyoutani meet up the morning before they leave, to take Saorin on one last walk before they have to leave, patting her and promising her that they'll be back soon before leaving her with Mori-san. 

Yahaba jogs home as usual, wondering to himself if he'll even have anything to talk to Kyoutani about, without Saorin around. So much of the time that they've been spending together has revolved around the puppy, and they were never particularly close before. He wipes the sweat off his forehead, wondering if he and Kyoutani will just go back to being indifferent towards each other. He finds himself frowning as he climbs the stairs to his apartment, hoping that it's not the case. He can feel the way the entire team has changed a little, ever since he and Kyoutani started getting along better. It would be a shame to lose that, he thinks. This is an important time for all of them to change and to grow. They don't need to be thrown back a few steps, just because Yahaba and Kyoutani don't have anything in common for the entire week. 

As they all meet at school with their bags packed full of their belongings, ready for the bus ride that will take them to their host school in Fukushima, Yahaba realises that he doesn't have anything to worry about.

The team unanimously let Yahaba and Kyoutani sit beside each other. They've all been so quiet about it that sometimes, Yahaba forgets that everyone thinks that they're dating. Every time he's reminded like this, he feels a cold, uneasy twist in his gut, but it's quick to go away as he reminds himself that no one's treating either of them any different for it. 

Besides, Yahaba thinks as he settles into the seat beside Kyoutani's, he can't really imagine anyone else sitting beside their surly ace anyway. As much as he's improved from the way he used to be, he's still quiet and intimidating; Yahaba can see it in the way that the first years act around him. He wants to laugh and reassure them that they have absolutely _nothing_ to fear, but he knows that Kyoutani won't appreciate it and besides, now that the team thinks that they're dating, he has a feeling that it will come out entirely different to what he intends, and he isn't particularly comfortable with that thought. 

There are three other schools at the training camp, and they're given a moment's rest as they unpack their bags from the bus and carry them to the rooms that they'll be staying in but as soon as that's done, they're sent straight to the gyms, to start the first of the three matches they have that day. 

They aren't given any information about the teams before going up against them, and it's a little terrifying going in blind. Yahaba hasn't even heard of Samezawa High School, before and he has no idea what to expect. The good thing, he realises, is that the team that they're up against are equally unprepared. The first set is all about getting a good feel for the other team, and Yahaba is glad that they've spent so long focusing on their basics before coming here, because it makes them all click together much better than they did back in the practice match they had against Karasuno. 

The entire team is playing well today, connecting the ball to each other, but Kyoutani is on top of his game. He responds to the ball instinctively, and Yahaba doesn't even have the time to envy him for the ease with which he moves, because he's too busy analysing the opposing team's middle blockers, making note of which kinds of blocks they like going for, so he can toss the ball accordingly, deciding when to use Kyoutani, and when to toss to Kindaichi or Kunimi instead.

Kyoutani makes a good decoy, when their opponents are so wary of him, and Kindaichi takes full advantage of it when Yahaba signals to him. Kunimi's feints are perfectly timed, and their first years, Morita and Hayato, are keeping up well.

Their match ends up going into three sets, because both teams are so evenly matched. While Aoba Jousai is a well rounded team, the same can be said of their opponents as well. Their ace might not be as good as Kyoutani, but the rest of the team is still solid enough that they still refuse to yield any ground. 

Kyoutani wins the third set for them with an across-court spike, and Yahaba is the first to start cheering, holding both his hands up for a high ten. Kyoutani brings his hands down so hard that Yahaba's palms sting, but he doesn't even care, laughing with glee as the rest of their team cheers around them as well. 

It's their first proper victory as a team, Yahaba realises as they form a circle with their hands on each other's backs. His hands are still throbbing a little from how hard Kyoutani slapped them, but it's a reminder of just how strong their ace is, how strong their _team_ is, and Yahaba finds that he can't stop smiling. 

They get a lunch break before their next two games for the day, and they take their opportunity to rest while they can. Yahaba already isn't looking forward to two back to back games, when this one has already been tiring enough. 

"You were really good," Yahaba murmurs, sitting down beside Kyoutani as they dig into the onigiri that have been prepared for them. 

"You too," Kyoutani replies, biting into his onigiri. He waits until he's done before he continues, "This team's pretty analytical, huh? I could see you thinking really hard while we were playing. Everyone was adjusting the way they did things, as we learned more about the other team."

"That's just what you do when you play against a team that you're not familiar with," Yahaba replies, but he smiles. "It's one of the things our seniors were really good at doing. If a problem comes up, they'd find a way to solve it. That's how Aoba Jousai plays." 

With a small smile, Kyoutani picks up his next onigiri. "Yeah, I guess so."

"I saw you doing it too." Yahaba doesn't look at Kyoutani, but sees the way he looks up. "You were adjusting the course of your spike against the middle blockers. It was good." 

Kyoutani snorts quietly. "Same with your tosses. Thanks, though. I guess we're really getting somewhere with this team, huh?"

Yahaba bumps their shoulders together with a smile. "Well, that's the whole idea. I'm curious to see how much we'll grow, actually."

"Me too," Kyoutani replies, so quietly that Yahaba almost misses it. He clears his throat and speaks louder, "Anyway, I'm getting more onigiri. I'll be back."

 

 

* * *

 

 

The next match they play, after lunch, is nothing like the first. Kamegawa High School is at a completely different skill level to Samezawa; their middle blockers aren't especially tall, but they're all incredibly good. Just like Aoba Jousai, they're the kind of team that adapts to their opponents, and Yahaba finds himself getting agitated every time one of their spikes gets blocked. He can see it in his teammates as well; no matter how much he and Watari make an effort to call out encouragement, Kindaichi is getting frustrated at getting blocked by players shorter than him, Kunimi isn't trying as hard as he could be, and Kyoutani is growling under his breath every time he loses a point to a block.

"Hey," Yahaba mutters, patting Kyoutani's arm. "Easy. We'll get the next one."

Kyoutani growls even louder, shrugging Yahaba's hand off.

" _Hey_ ," Yahaba raises his voice. "Do I need to yell at you to pull your head in, or are you going to make this easier on both of us and just behave?"

Kyoutani rounds on him, looking ready to fight. Yahaba meets his gaze steadily with a frown, standing his ground. He's the captain here. He has the authority and after a moment, Kyoutani seems to remember that. He backs down, averting his gaze. It's not an apology, but Yahaba isn't expecting one anyway. This is good enough.

"Let's get back to the game," Yahaba says, loud enough for the entire team to hear, and inclines his head at Yoshino, the other team's captain, who smiles in reply.

The rest of the match continues in the same vein, exposing the weaknesses in Aoba Jousai's formation. They might be good at receiving serves, but they still need to work on recovering from being blocked. Yahaba can see Irihata and Mizoguchi taking notes from the sidelines, but he thinks that he's already prepared for what they're going to tell the team. It's just a matter of figuring out the quickest way to work on it. 

Every time Kyoutani is on the brink of losing his temper, Yahaba is there to pull him back with some carefully chosen words. As annoying as it is at the time, Yahaba realises that it's a good experience for the team right now, to learn how to deal with Kyoutani when he's getting agitated like this. Yahaba finds that he's getting better at making Kyoutani calm down. Ultimately, he wants Kyoutani to learn how to manage his own moods when he's on the court, but at least Yahaba knows how to deal with him in the meantime. 

They still end up losing the match in two sets, but instead of letting it discourage them, the team uses it as motivation to do better. Yahaba is pleased by the way that he can see the determination in every single one of his teammates as they walk off the court. 

"You had the right idea, before coming to this training camp," Irihata tells them, his arms folded across his chest. "Your basics are much better than they were before, but you still have to learn that there are other situations you can apply them to. It's all about learning how your body feels when it's moving, how quickly it can respond to something, how well you can control that movement. You're all still growing and developing, not just in terms of your skills but in terms of your bodies as well. Just because it feels a particular way one day, doesn't guarantee that it will feel the same way each and every time. You'll jump higher, you'll reach further, you'll crouch faster for a receive. Don't make the mistake of thinking that anything you do is set in stone, because the only one who will get in the way of your growth will be yourself."

The team is silent as they let his words sink in. Yahaba balls his hands into fists at his sides, turning to the rest of them.

"We're going to keep growing," he tells them all with conviction. "What we can't adjust to immediately while we're on the court, we'll take away and learn from it so we become better in the future. Just because we can't overcome it now, doesn't mean that we never will."

" _Ossu_!" the rest of the team replies, and then scatter to get some rest during their break.

Yahaba hangs his towel around his neck to soak up his sweat as he sits by the wall. He's already on his second bottle of water since they started playing and he's still incredibly thirsty. THere's still some time before their next game, but he's careful not to drink too much anyway. 

Playing two games so lose together is already taking a toll on most of the team. They're rotating the first years to make sure that they all get some experience on the court, but most of them are not entirely used to these sorts of games just yet. If Yahaba's being honest, neither is he. While he's played as reserve setter for Oikawa often enough, his experience on the court is nothing close to the other starting members. He's sure that a couple of the first years have been regulars on their middle school teams for longer than he's been on the court over the past two years and while he's learning to get over his insecurities about it, there's no denying the fact that his stamina on the court could do with some improvement.

That's what they're here for after all, Yahaba tells himself. There's only so much they can learn through practice. The rest needs to come to them through experience, just like this.

Watari walks over, sitting beside him. "You look lost in thought. Anything I can help with?"

"Just thinking about what we can do to improve for our next game," Yahaba sighs. "We're fine with receiving while you're on the court, but we need a strategy for when you're rotated out."

"I think Kyoutani would be good at it, for a start," Watari muses, rubbing his chin as they both look at Kyoutani, standing to the side by himself as he drinks his water. "He has pretty good reflexes, so maybe we can have him focus on receives when he's in the back row." 

Yahaba snorts quietly. "He's going to focus on spiking, no matter where he is on the court. Nothing's going to change that, but you do have a point. He'd be good at picking up the ball. The rest of the team can follow his lead. I'll call him over so we can talk about it."

"Oh, do you want me to go so it's just the two of you?" Watari asks, looking a little awkward.

Yahaba frowns in confusion until he realises what Watari's talking about. He shakes his head. "Don't worry about that. We're here for training camp. He's just a teammate right now."

Watari hums, sounding unconvinced. "I don't know. If I was on the same team as Ai-chan—"

" _Ai-chan_ ," Yahaba repeats, laughing softly, and Watari turns bright red, immediately distracted from their conversation because he's too busy sputtering and trying to backtrack. Yahaba is relieved, making sure that they don't change the subject back. 

They eventually get interrupted by a couple of first years, who want to ask Watari for tips on improving their receiving. Yahaba takes the opportunity to walk over to Kyoutani, greeting him with a nod.

Kyoutani looks him up and down, frowning slightly. "You look exhausted. Are you going to make it through our next game?"

Yahaba smiles. "Well, I am now."

Kyoutani huffs out a quiet laugh. "You're still a shit, even when you're tired. Especially when you're tired, maybe."

"Shut up," Yahaba grins, taking another sip from his bottle. "Anyway, I was talking to Watari before about what we can do to strengthen our receives when he's rotated off the court. He thought it might be a good start to have you focusing on receives when you're in the back row."

Kyoutani snorts. "The hell I will. I'm the ace. I'm going to focus on spiking."

Yahaba laughs, shaking his head. "I told Watari you would say that. I'm not asking you to stop spiking—you're too good at what you do to ask you to _stop_ —but you've also got the best reflexes out of everyone. If anyone can help us get the ball back up while Watari's off, it's going to be you. The others can learn from watching you."

Kyoutani nods slowly. "Okay, I get what what you mean. I'll try."

"I can't tell what kind of team Moriyuki is going to be," Yahaba says, looking across the gymnasium to where their next opponents are also taking a break. "But at least we have some sort of plan going in. It's better than nothing."

"I guess so," Kyoutani hums. "You don't have to push yourself to prove anything, okay? That's not going to achieve anything."

"Are you _worried_ about me, Kyoutani?" Yahaba teases, raising an eyebrow.

With a gentle shove, Kyoutani shakes his head. "You wish. Come on, let's show this next team what we can do."

Their two set victory against Moriyuki High School feels a little anticlimactic, after the entire team has spent so long preparing themselves for another opponent as difficult as Kamegawa. Both teams are too tired for any more, though, so Yahaba supposes that it's a good thing.

Moriyuki is a team that focuses on their offence, but Kyoutani is well and truly in his element with two games behind them. Yahaba envies him for the amount of energy that he still has left, but it's encouraging all the same. It makes the rest of the team try a little harder too, and their victory isn't easy, with Moriyuki putting up a fight until the very end of each set.

They're exhausted by the end, and Kyoutani is soaked with sweat. Not only has he been trying to pick up as many receives as possible from the back row, but he's also given his all when it comes to blocking. The entire team has; Yahaba can see the amount of thought Kindaichi is putting into his blocks, having learned from their game against Kamegawa. Kunimi's feints are more careful as well, and the first years are more careful with their receives, after speaking to Watari about how to improve. 

It's just the first day at training camp, and Yahaba can already see the improvements that their team is making. He's already looking forward to what the rest of the week will bring. 

"You played well," Kawachi, the captain of Moriyuki says at the end of their match as they shake hands. "Just you wait, though. We'll get you back tomorrow."

"I look forward to it," Yahaba replies, smiling, and he means it. He knows that his team won't be the only ones growing over the course of this week. Hopefully, they can all push themselves to be better by the time they go home.

He's curious about the team that they'll be playing against once the training camp is over, but neither Irihata nor Mizoguchi give him any information when he asks, telling him that it will be better if the team has to learn on its feet, the same way as they're doing here. Yahaba doesn't dwell on it, when he has plenty enough to focus on right in front of him anyway. He can deal with the rest later. 

 

 

* * *

 

 

By the end of the training camp, Yahaba ends up with something of a reputation among the other teams, for being a little terrifying and intense. Watari takes great delight in informing them of this, grinning at Yahaba and Kyoutani as the three of them sit outside together on their last night before leaving.

"Apparently, it's because you yell at Kyoutani whenever he starts getting agitated, until he pulls his head in."

"Really?" Yahaba asks. "Just because I don't take his shit? But I haven't taken his shit since first year when he joined the volleyball club anyway. I don't see the big deal about that."

"Shut up," Kyoutani mutters, kicking Yahaba's foot lightly.

" _You_ shut up," Yahaba kicks Kyoutani's foot a little harder in return. 

"This is an amazing display of maturity by our captain and ace," Watari sighs, but he's grinning. "Are you guys like this when you're alone together as well?" 

Kyoutani snorts quietly. "This is exactly what he's like. Yahaba's a little shit, disguised under good manners." 

"Go fuck yourself, _Kyoutani-kun_ ," Yahaba laughs, making a rude gesture at him. 

"Oi," Kyoutani growls, giving Yahaba a gentle shove. 

"You know," Watari says with a smile, "I was kind of surprised about the two of you at first, but it's starting to make more sense now. I think you're pretty good for each other."

Yahaba and Kyoutani glance at each other, before looking away. Watari laughs quietly, patting Yahaba on the shoulder before he gets up. 

"Anyway, I'm heading inside and going to bed. Don't stay up too late, yeah? We have to get up early tomorrow to head home."

"You're just repeating what I told the team earlier," Yahaba huffs. 

"Yeah, well, don't forget that it applies to you too, okay?"

"He'll probably end up sleeping on the bus anyway," Kyoutani speaks up. "It's what he did the entire way here in the first place."

"Did not," Yahaba argues, as Watari shakes his head at them both and makes his way inside. Yahaba waits for a while, just to make sure that Watari's gone, before he drops his voice and glances at Kyoutani. "Is this weird?"

Kyoutani snorts quietly. "Of course it is. I keep forgetting about it until someone says something, and then it feels kind of awkward for a bit. At least no one's being a dick about it, right? It could be worse."

"Yeah," Yahaba murmurs. "I guess so."

"Anyway," Kyoutani says, probably eager to change the subject, "you improved a lot this week. Your stamina's gotten better. So has your tossing. It's a lot easier to predict where they'll go now, because you're setting them up better."

Yahaba flushes with pride at the thought of Kyoutani noticing. "You've gotten better at fitting in with the rest of the team's playing styles. Even the first years. I noticed some of them trying to copy your stance when it comes to receiving, actually. I think it's cute." 

"Don't call them that," Kyoutani huffs. "They're only two years younger."

"Oikawa-san sometimes called _us_ cute when we was just a year older," Yahaba points out.

"You're not Oikawa," Kyoutani says firmly. "You're you. I like that better."

Yahaba sighs softly. This is an old and familiar conversation, and he doesn't see any point in repeating it when their approaches to the matter aren't going to be any different to before. "Watari was right, we should probably go to bed soon so we wake up on time tomorrow morning. We've got a long trip home, and I wouldn't be surprised if the coaches have something planned for the afternoon."

Kyoutani groans quietly, getting to his feet. "Yeah, you're right about that. Let's go."

True to Kyoutani's words, Yahaba ends up falling asleep on the bus trip back home. He's not the only one, though, because they're all exhausted. By the time Yahaba blinks awake, they've already entered Sendai, and he and Kyoutani have their heads resting against each other. Yahaba sits up a little, pressing his lips together into a thin line as Kyoutani's head lolls to the side, coming to rest against his shoulder instead. Kyoutani is so fast asleep that he doesn't even stir at the shift at the change in position, and Yahaba sighs to himself. He'll allow it. Kyoutani _has_ been working incredibly hard this entire week, after all. 

The entire team is fairly well-rested by the time they get off the bus, and the coaches lead them back to the gymnasium for a meeting. When they open the doors, though, the entire gymnasium is already set up with volleyball nets and ball trolleys. 

"We've arranged a practice match for you tomorrow against Kenzan High School from Akita," Mizoguchi says, "but in the meantime, we thought that the best way to measure how much you've grown recently is to test your skills against people who were familiar with your playing styles before. A couple of your senpai were kind enough to drop by in their free time."

Yahaba looks up, blinking with surprise when he sees Hanamaki and Matsukawa standing there in their usual practice clothes.

"Yo," Hanamaki grins. "Did you miss us?"

"Our university team couldn't make it here with us," Matsukawa says, "but we figured that we'd drop by to see how you've been doing. Maybe practice with you for a bit if you don't mind, Captain."

Yahaba flushes, standing a little straighter. "Please do. We need to warm up first, though. We've just gotten off the bus."

"You can lead us too," Hanamaki adds. "We set up, but we thought we'd wait for you."

Yahaba can't help but feel self conscious, certain that Hanamaki and Matsukawa will be comparing him to Oikawa, but Kyoutani gives him a gentle shove, looking unimpressed. It's enough to snap Yahaba out of his worry, focusing instead on what he needs to do.

It starts off the way that a normal afternoon of practice would, to give Hanamaki and Matsukawa time to observe the way the team moves. Yahaba is pleased by the fact that they're both clearly impressed.

"Would you look at that," Matsukawa grins, clapping Yahaba on the shoulder at the end of their drills. "You've been working hard these past few weeks, haven't you?" 

"We all have," Yahaba replies with a smile. "We're a good team. We're going to get even better." 

They split up to play games of three-on-three, with Hanamaki and Matsukawa playing on different courts. Yahaba has seen Matsukawa go up against Kindaichi plenty of times in the past, but he pays special attention this time, watching them try to outsmart each other. Kindaichi is using what he's learned from playing against Kamegawa, but Matsukawa is quick to adjust to that. Kindaichi has been dealing with a week of this already, though, so he doesn't let it stop him. 

Yahaba has learned the kind of tosses that Kindaichi hits best, from a combination of what he's already known from last year, and what he's learned so far as the regular setter. It's one thing for middle blockers to outsmart each other, but it's incredibly satisfying when Yahaba, manages to do it as the setter. 

"Not bad," Matsukawa says through the net, when Yahaba's team wins their set. "You're all a lot more tenacious this year. You must have had a good training camp. Even Kyoutani's on fire."

Yahaba glances over to where Kyoutani is facing off against Hanamaki. As wing spikers, they're both competing over who can score the most points and break through each other's blocks. Yahaba is glad Watari is playing on Kyoutani's team, to pick up the spikes that Hanamaki blocks. Their setter is one of the first years, but Kyoutani's already adjusted to him well enough to hit the ball hard. Even from here, Yahaba can see the way the sides of Hanamaki's arms are turning pink. 

"He's always a bit like that, isn't he?" Yahaba asks with a sigh. "He doesn't really know how to be any different when he's on the court. I can promise you that much hasn't changed."

Matsukawa hums. "Maybe. But he's not letting out his frustration on his teammates the way he used to. You haven't done too badly, you know. I don't even see you slamming him against walls any more."

Yahaba coughs in embarrassment. "That was one time. He was being annoying." 

Kyoutani's team wins the set, and he shouts out in victory. Yahaba laughs to himself, shaking his head, and doesn't realise Matsukawa is watching him until afterwards. 

"You know," Matsukawa says quietly to Yahaba, as they're packing up the gym, "I heard something pretty interesting earlier, when I was practicing with a few of the others in the team."

Yahaba's stomach drops out, because he has a feeling he knows what this is going to be about. "Did you?"

"About you and Kyoutani," Matsukawa continues, confirming Yahaba's fears. "It wasn't anything bad, just something about how you're good at pulling Kyoutani back in when he starts getting agitated. There was something about the way it was said, though, that makes me wonder if there's any juicy gossip that I should be passing along to Oikawa. Can you imagine it? He'd have a field day. He'd be so upset that he didn't have the time to come and visit you himself."

"Please don't tell him," Yahaba mutters. 

"So it _is_ true," Matsukawa concludes, and Yahaba doesn't tell him otherwise, because he doesn't even know where to begin. "The team knows, huh? Did you actually tell them?"

"…They figured it out. Watari called us out on it, told us that the rest of the team was supportive. I guess Oikawa-san and Iwaizumi-san made it easier for the team to accept it?"

Matsukawa raises an eyebrow. "Oikawa and Iwaizumi? They're not together. Not last that I've heard, anyway."

Yahaba blinks. "Oh."

"Me and Hanamaki though?" Matsukawa grins. "Definitely dating."

"Really?"

"I can't believe you didn't realise," Matsukawa pats his back. "We weren't exactly subtle about it."

"It can be a little difficult to tell when you're being serious, and when you're not," Yahaba replies, feeling his face heat. "But—really?" 

"Aww, Yahaba," Matsukawa places both hands on his shoulders. "I'm giving you my number so you can text me about this later, okay? In case you ever want to talk about… whatever. I know what it's like."

Yahaba nods mutely, unsure of what to say. 

"Anyway," Matsukawa says gently, "we should finish packing up. Hanamaki and Kyoutani look like they're pretty busy talking too, huh? We'll pick up their slack."

When it's time for them to leave, Matsukawa reaches out, taking Hanamaki's hand as they walk out of the school. It occurs to Yahaba that it's not the first time he's seen them do that, but the intent is clear this time. Kyoutani goes a little still as he watches them go, and there's no one else around so he turns to Yahaba.

"Are they—?"

"Yeah," Yahaba replies softly. He clears his throat. "You were pretty busy talking to Hanamaki-san earlier. Spiking advice?"

"Something like that," Kyoutani replies, adjusting his bag on his shoulder. "He gave me a bit of advice on what to do when I'm up against people that I'm evenly matched with, when they don't just have weaknesses that I can hit. That sort of thing."

"I guess he'd be good for giving you that sort of advice," Yahaba hums. "You're probably pretty evenly matched when it comes to strength, huh?"

"He beats me most of the time," Kyoutani mumbles, ducking his head as if he's embarrassed to admit it. "But I beat him when it comes to spiking, I guess. That counts for something." 

"It does," Yahaba agrees. "Good work. Not just for today but for the whole week. You did good."

"We all did." Kyoutani sounds a little gruff, but he looks pleased. "Anyway. My parents won't be home for a bit. We should have some time with Saorin. You coming over?"

Yahaba grins. "Of course I am."

 

 

* * *

 

 

The entire team is back at the gymnasium the next day to prepare for the practice match against Kenzan High School. They'll be stopping by on their way back from their own training camp for a game, and then lunch, before heading off. Apparently, Mizoguchi is friends with one of the newer coaches for the team, and that's all the information they're getting. 

Yahaba directs the team to set up the net and tables and chairs for both teams' coaches. He watches as they all warm up, glad to see that they're all eager for this upcoming challenge. He knows that Mizoguchi wouldn't organise for a team to be going out of their way for a practice match if they're not going to be tough. They might not know exactly how just yet, but he supposes that they'll find out soon enough. 

They aren't kept waiting for long. Once they've all finished stretching and warming up, Mizoguchi announces that Kenzan has arrived. Yahaba leads the way out of the gym to greet them, the rest of the team filing out behind him. 

"This is Tanuma, one of the coaches for Kenzan," Mizoguchi says, as a man roughly his age steps out of the bus. They nod at each other in greeting, shaking hands firmly. "Yahaba, this is Ogawa, the captain of their team." 

When Ogawa steps off the bus, Yahaba's breath catches in his throat. 

Ogawa is tall, with a strong jawline, broad shoulders, and black hair that is swept out of his face. He's incredibly handsome, and it's even _worse_ when he smiles at Yahaba, gripping his hand firmly and shaking it. 

"Thanks for having us. I understand that you've just finished a training camp of your own. I'm glad we could find time between our busy schedules." 

"Me too," Yahaba replies, smiling back at Ogawa. "Let's have a good game." 

The rest of the team, as they all get off the bus, are incredibly tall as well. Yahaba blinks up at them, before turning to Kyoutani and Watari. 

"Time to put those receives to good use," Watari mutters, as both teams walk back into the gymnasium. Kenzan needs some time to warm up, and Yahaba uses that time to call a quick meeting.

"Kindaichi, I think there are only two people on that team shorter than you," Yahaba says, glancing over at them. "My guess is that they're going to be a team that is good at shutting out spikes. Kunimi, we're going to need your feints so we can draw their attention to you, and then you'll make a good decoy. Kyoutani, you too. You're already warmed up. You don't have to waste any time before you show them what you're capable of. Make them scared of you. It's going to make them cautious, and that's going to give us openings." 

The team nods, even though Kyoutani seems a little distracted. He isn't quite meeting Yahaba's eyes, looking over his shoulder at Kenzan instead.

"Morita, you're starting with us today," Yahaba says, to their first year middle blocker. "You're right next to Kindaichi. I want the two of you to use your height to your advantage as often as you can. Whether that's spiking or blocking." 

"We don't know what their receiving is like," Watari adds with a small frown. "They're all tall, so it's safe to assume they're good at blocking and spiking, but watch out for that. Their serves, too." 

"At least we have some kind of idea of what we're up against now," Yahaba says. "We'll figure the rest out as we go." 

Their teams line up and bow, and Yahaba tries not to be too obvious about the way he glances at Ogawa when he comes up from his bow. Both teams are wearing their uniforms, and Kenzan's is a medium green that suits Ogawa well. He looks good in it, and Yahaba tries not to be distracted by it as they shake hands before the game begins. Aoba Jousai gets the starting serve, and it starts with Kyoutani, who is scowling as he picks up the ball, spinning it between his hands. 

Yahaba sighs to himself. He doesn't have the time to talk to Kyoutani and figure out what's wrong now, and it's too early on in the game to yell at him, especially when he's trying to be subtle about whatever this is.

"Nice serve, Kyoutani," he says instead, and waits for Kyoutani to serve. 

It's powerful, but it's picked up by Kenzan's libero without a problem. Kindaichi and Morita prepare themselves to block, and Yahaba can hear their soft grunt of effort as the ball hits their arms. It bounces back to the other side of the net again, though, scoring them the first point. 

"Next one!" Ogawa calls out, and Yahaba catches the way that Kyoutani's scowl deepens. 

The next serve is more forceful, and Yahaba thinks back to all the times he saw Kyoutani practicing his jump serves in free practice time at the training camp, and before then too. He's gotten much better at them, and this time, the libero struggles to receive it, sending it back over the net. 

Watari sends it to Yahaba, and Kyoutani is already running up for the ball. Yahaba tosses, watching as Kyoutani extends his arm to spike it across the court. The spike is forceful enough that it makes a loud noise, but Ogawa jumps at just the right time, moving his arm to block it. 

The referee whistle blows as the ball lands on Aoba Jousai's side of the court, and Kyoutani clicks his tongue, turning away. 

"Hey," Yahaba says in a low voice.

"Don't," Kyoutani warns. "Not in the mood, Yahaba."

Yahaba exchanges a glance with Watari, and then glances over at Irihata. He trusts the coach's judgement. So far, Irihata has let Yahaba handle Kyoutani on the court. He knows that if it doesn't work, Kyoutani will get switched out. 

That's not going to go well for any of them.

"My bad for not picking it up when it came back over," Watari says, clearly trying to break up the tension. "I was just way too sure that your spike would make it! Next time, Kyoutani."

Kyoutani nods without a word, and they get ready for Kenzan's serve. The server is the tallest person on the team, and Yahaba thinks that his jump serve would be devastating, to a team that wasn't already used to Oikawa's serves. Watari is steady as he receives it, sending it over to Yahaba. 

If Kyoutani's previous spike was forceful, this one is even stronger. It's louder and Kyoutani turns his body as he hits it, landing it right by the net on the opposing side. He looks more satisfied now, but he still doesn't look at Yahaba. 

It's annoying. Yahaba hasn't had to deal with Kyoutani being this stubborn for a while. He's forgotten just how much he hates it.

Kenzan now has their attention focused on Kyoutani, though, which is according to plan. Their team is like Kamegawa in the fact that they both specialise in blocking. Unlike Kamegawa though, Kenzan has the height advantage. It reminds Yahaba of playing against Datekou, and he wonders if that's one of the reasons Mizoguchi has organised this practice match; Karasuno is one thing, but they're going to have to learn to play well against teams with tall players and good middle blockers if they want to beat Datekou at the regionals as well. This is a good way to start preparing.

In the end, it's a close match. There's something off about Kyoutani, but Yahaba can't exactly tell what it is. He's playing fine, he isn't getting distracted, and he isn't snapping at his teammates. Whatever it is, Yahaba decides, it's something that can be deal with later. After the match is over. 

Their third set goes into a deuce, which Kenzan just barely manage to win. Everyone's exhausted by the end of it, but Yahaba doesn't have any regrets. They've all played well, and it's another good measure of how far they've come, and how much further they have to go. 

"It's a pity we're so far apart," Ogawa says, as he and Yahaba shake hands. "That was a good game. I'd ask for another, if we weren't all so tired, and if we didn't have to leave soon." 

"Absolutely," Yahaba smiles. He thinks Ogawa might look even better drenched in sweat than he does normally. He licks his lips, glancing away. "We've organised lunch before your team has to leave. You can use our locker rooms to change first." 

Ogawa inclines his head in thanks, leading his team in the thank you bow, before they stretch and head off to change. Yahaba turns to the rest of his team, sitting along the wall with their bottles, and smiles at them.

"That was pretty good, all of you," he tells them. "We nearly won, against a team with such good blockers."

" _Nearly_ won doesn't mean anything, in a tournament," Kyoutani snorts. "A loss is a loss."

"Luckily," Yahaba smiles, "this was a practice match, for a good reason. Don't you think, Kyoutani-kun?"

Kyoutani wrinkles his nose at Yahaba, and they stare each other down for a moment, until Watari clears his throat. 

"What the hell is your problem?" Yahaba asks quietly, sitting down beside Kyoutani. 

"Do you even realise how obvious you are?" Kyoutani mutters, turning away from the rest of the team, lowering his voice so only Yahaba can hear. "You were practically _drooling_ over that captain."

Yahaba looks away, feeling his ears burning. "What does it matter? I'm not going to do anything. I don't even know if he's—anyway. Whatever. It's not worth the risk." 

"It matters," Kyoutani growls, "because the team thinks you're with me. But they can all see you making puppy eyes at this guy and it's… humiliating, okay? You're meant to be my boyfriend." 

Yahaba tries not to flinch at the word, but Kyoutani must catch it anyway, because his expression only darkens. 

"I'll subtle about it next time," Yahaba mutters. "Is that alright with you, babe?" 

For a moment, it looks like Kyoutani is seriously considering punching him. Yahaba is almost disappointed when Kyoutani doesn't. 

"Forget it," Kyoutani sighs, getting to his feet and walking off. 

Yahaba growls under his breath, rolling his eyes. Kyoutani's been off for the past few days, and Yahaba hates that he can't figure it out. He'd like to think that he knows his team well enough to get to the root of these kinds of problems by now, and it's especially true for Kyoutani, when they've been spending so much time together. It's frustrating to be met with this different side of him, that Yahaba can't figure out.

"Is Kyoutani jealous?" Watari asks, sitting down beside Yahaba. "That's kind of cute." 

"There is nothing cute about Kyoutani," Yahaba mutters, glaring at his retreating back. "He's an idiot."

"Just tell him that he doesn't have anything to be jealous of," Watari suggests. "Maybe you think Ogawa's good looking, but it's Kyoutani you're dating. You should go, before it turns into a bigger fight." 

With a sigh, Yahaba gets to his feet. He doesn't really want to carry out this charade, but he goes looking for Kyoutani anyway.

Kyoutani isn't easy to find. He seems to be avoiding Yahaba with intent, and he's not in any of the usual places that Yahaba would find him around the school. Yahaba gives up, when it's the team's turn to change. Kyoutani isn't there either, and then it's lunch time, and he doesn't have the time to keep looking.

He ends up sitting with Ogawa instead, sharing stories about their respective training camps and the schools that they played against. Yahaba knows that it's unlikely that they'll ever cross paths, but he soaks up all the information that he can anyway, immeasurably pleased when he and Ogawa end up swapping contact details so they can keep discussing strategy. 

Of course, that's the moment Kyoutani wanders back into sight, having showered and changed. His eyes narrow when he sees Yahaba sitting with Ogawa, standing there with a bowl of rice in one hand and his chopsticks in the other. Yahaba looks away, because he doesn't have the time to figure Kyoutani out right now. As much as he's conscious about the way he presents himself, having to constantly factor their pretence of a relationship in is exhausting. 

When Kenzan get back on their bus and leave, Kyoutani is still angry. Yahaba can feel it emanating from him, and he's sure the rest of the team can as well, because they all give him a wide berth. 

"Are we going back to your place?" Yahaba asks, as everyone else begins to leave.

"I am," Kyoutani replies shortly. "You can do whatever the hell you want." 

"Kyoutani—"

His voice is drowned out by the rumble of another bus as it pulls in, and he sighs with irritation as Kyoutani keeps walking.

"Oh," Watari says happily. "I think it's the girl's basketball team."

Sure enough, Ishiguro steps off the bus, her expression brightening when she sees Watari. She waves at him, helping to unload their bus and pack everything away before she comes over to say hello.

"I missed you," she tells Watari, hugging him tightly. "I didn't know you'd be around today! Did you have a practice match?"

"Yeah," Watari smiles. "I think we've made some new friendly rivals." 

Yahaba nods in greeting when Ishiguro smiles at him, then does the same when Mishima walks over too. 

"How was your training camp, fellow captain?" she asks with a tired smile. 

"Just as brutal as yours, I think," Yahaba replies. "The Interhigh preliminaries already feel like they're looming on the horizon."

"I know," Mishima sighs. "I need to go out and buy some sports gear so it's all broken in by the time the tournament begin. Are you busy this weekend?" 

"Not at all," Yahaba shakes his head. "That's actually a pretty good idea. Count me in." 

"Great." Mishima grins. "I'll see you tomorrow, then." 

 

 

* * *

 

 

When Yahaba arrives at school next Monday morning, he's stopped by Kyoutani grabbing onto his arm. 

"I didn't see you this morning," Kyoutani tells him. "Saorin and I had to go for our walk without you."

Yahaba blinks at him. "You were pissed off with me. I figured I wasn't invited." 

Kyoutani sighs, rubbing the back of his neck. "She's your dog too, you know. I'm not gonna stop you from seeing her just because you did something to annoy me."

"You make it sound deliberate." 

"It felt that way to me." Kyoutani looks into his eyes, frowning. "I walked off to clear my head and then when I came back, you were sitting right there with him and—"

"Kyoutani," Yahaba sighs. "He's the captain of his team. We were talking about training camp, and the teams that we went up against."

"…Oh."

Yahaba laughs quietly, shaking his head. "What the hell did you think I would do? Give him my number and ask him to date me, in front of both of our teams?"

Kyoutani presses his lips together into a thin line. "You want to date him."

"He lives in Akita," Yahaba points out. "He's probably straight. Besides, I'm not even good at _pretending_ to date someone. I don't think I'm up for the real thing any time soon." 

With a deep breath, Kyoutani turns to him. "Look, if you want, we can pretend to break up, or whatever. We can pretend it's about Ogawa. If you don't want to do this—"

"Then how are we going to explain the fact that we still spend so much time together?" Yahaba asks. "It's going to make things weirder. It's weird enough as it is, let's just leave it like that." 

"Is it really that weird?" Kyoutani asks after a moment. "Dating me?"

"I wouldn't know," Yahaba replies. "I'm not _really_ dating you, am I?"

With a quiet laugh, Kyoutani shakes his head. "Yeah. You're right." 

They fall into step with each other as they walk to their homerooms, only to be intercepted by Watari along the way.

"Yahaba!" he calls out, hurrying over to him with a concerned frown. "Um. Ai-chan was telling me about how you went out with Mishima on the weekend."

"Yeah," Yahaba nods. "We went to the sports store to stock up a few things before the Interhigh preliminaries. Her idea. It was really good."

"About that," Watari says, as Kyoutani starts snickering. "I think she kind of… meant it as a date?" 

"…Oh." Yahaba blinks, as Kyoutani laughs even louder. "Kyoutani, shut up. I didn't realise. I can't believe—what do I even tell her?"

"I'll get Ai-chan to take care of it," Watari says quickly, looking between Yahaba and Kyoutani with a smile. "You don't have to worry about it."

"It's like you have a thing for captains, huh?" Kyoutani teases. 

" _Shut up_ ," Yahaba replies, his ears burning. "It's fine. We're going to be busy preparing for the preliminaries soon anyway, I probably won't have the time to talk to Mishima for a while. I'll avoid her for a bit or something."

"Now there's our responsible captain," Kyoutani says, patting Yahaba on the back. 

"What else do I do?" Yahaba hisses, "tell her I'm already dating the biggest idiot at our school?"

"You can't say that," Kyoutani says seriously, "because _I'm_ dating the biggest idiot at our school." 

They shove at each other, laughing, and Yahaba is glad that the tension from earlier is gone, even if he's all too aware that this is an act because they're not alone. Watari shakes his head at both of them with an amused smile, and this isn't so bad, he thinks. He's getting used to pretending with Kyoutani, and he can feel that they're becoming better friends underneath it anyway. 

It isn't until halfway through his second period of the day that it occurs to him that Mishima asked him out on a date. 

He nearly drops his pen at the thought, tightening his grip on it before he can. He sits there for a moment, staring at the equation scribbled into his notebook, and properly considers it.

They had fun together, the way that they usually do when they talk. They gave each other their opinions on what to buy at the sports store, and got ramen together afterwards. It was relaxed, because they were both making sure to enjoy the chance to breathe before preparation for Interhigh preliminaries truly began. 

It was nice.

Right now, however, he knows that he needs to focus on volleyball. He doesn't really have the time for anything else, other than Saorin. 

He spends the entire afternoon at Kyoutani's place, neglecting his homework to play with Saorin instead. Their practices are probably going to start getting longer too, which means they'll end later. He isn't going to get as much time with Saorin for a while, so he takes the opportunity to enjoy it as much as he can.

Kyoutani seems to understand, because he's doing the same thing. The two of them don't need to talk, comfortable enough with each other to just throw one of Saorin's balls back and forth, grinning as she chases it, barking with excitement. 

It's only when Yahaba's getting ready to leave that Kyoutani breaks the silence. 

"How do you feel about the Interhigh prelims?" he asks, once Saorin is back with Mori-san and Yahaba has his bag slung over his shoulder. 

"I feel good," Yahaba replies. "Confident. I know there are a few tough schools in our block, but I think we'll be just as tough. Tougher. It's going to be here before we know it. Then we'll see."

Kyoutani nods in agreement, holding the door open for him. "Yeah. We'll see soon enough."

Yahaba ends up being right: the lead up to the Interhigh preliminaries passes in the blink of an eye and then it's upon them before they even realise. Yahaba is nervous, on the way to the sports centre. He knows that most of the team is. Kyoutani is steady and unfaltering, and he's the same on the court too. 

He's a good ace, Yahaba thinks to himself as they win match after match. He's strong, and the team follows him, matching themselves to his rhythm. He's found his place at the very heart of their team and Yahaba is glad for it, not just for the way that it brings out the best in their teammates, but for the way it brings out the best in Kyoutani as well. 

They win their way to the semi-finals without crossing paths with Karasuno. They'll be waiting at the finals, Yahaba thinks to himself. There's just one more team that they have to get through first.

"Datekou play similarly to Kenzan," Irihata tells them at their team meeting, after they've won their quarter-final match. "Remember how closely matched the two of you were. You've had time to analyse your own playing since then, and you've had the opportunity to watch Datekou's matches while you weren't playing. Unlike Kenzan, you're walking into this knowing exactly what to expect, and what to prepare yourselves for. I have faith in all of you."

Yahaba sends a message to Matsukawa that night, updating him on how they've been doing at the preliminaries. They don't text each other often, and Yahaba tends to avoid the subject of Kyoutani whenever he can, but it's nice to be in touch with his senpai all the same. He has Oikawa's number saved to his phone as well, but he's more hesitant to use it. Talking to Matsukawa is much easier. 

_Datekou, huh? They'll probably be tough. You can do it though. Good luck from me & Hanamaki._ Matsukawa's reply is brief, but it encourages Yahaba all the same.

He takes a deep breath and lies back in his bed, trying to get some sleep before the match tomorrow. They've come a long way since the beginning of the year. Yahaba doesn't know if they'll be able to beat Datekou, but there's only one way to find out.


	6. Chapter 6

They lose to Datekou in a two-set match, and it doesn't matter how close both of those sets were, it doesn't matter that they tried as hard as they could. A loss is a loss, and Yahaba knows that this one is a particularly bad one.

He reflects on it, as the team lines up to bow, tears stinging at the back of his eyes even though he refuses to let them fall. He could tell when the team began to crumble under pressure, but he didn't know how to handle it. He still doesn't know what he would have done any differently and it's frustrating. This isn't the kind of captain he wanted to be. It isn't the kind of captain that the team needs.

It isn't the kind of captain that Oikawa was. 

With a heavy heart, he looks up at the audience, looking for the familiar face he saw when they first walked onto the court. He knows that Oikawa is attending university in Tokyo, but he and Iwaizumi came all the way here to watch their game. To watch them lose. 

Yahaba jumps when he feels a hand on his back, turning to see Kyoutani. He feels Kyoutani's fingers curl into the material of his shirt, clinging tightly, and Yahaba gives him a wobbly smile, doing the same in return. 

"You should've relied on me more, you know." Kyoutani doesn't sound irritated. He gives Yahaba a sidelong glance, patting him on the back. "I know they're all tall, but tossing to Kindaichi wasn't the answer. You didn't even do that against Kamegawa in our practice match. Or Kenzan."

"It's tougher in a real match," Yahaba sighs. "I couldn't keep my composure. I'm sorry." 

"Hey," Kyoutani says gently, nudging him. "It wasn't just you. I don't think any of us did. Come on, let's go." 

"You know," Yahaba smiles, "when you came back to the team last year, you said you were surprised that the third years didn't retire after losing at the preliminaries. Are you planning on going anywhere, Kyoutani?"

Kyoutani snorts. "Hell no. I'm here until the end. We still have Spring High, don't we?"

"Yeah, we do." Yahaba lifts his head, blinking back his tears of disappointment. He slows down when he sees Oikawa standing there with Iwaizumi, waiting for him, but he doesn't avert his gaze. Kyoutani's grip on the back of Yahaba's shirt tightens a little, and it's comforting. The rest of the team stops behind him too, looking up at Oikawa.

"You all played hard," Oikawa tells the team, and his smile is gentle. He understands the disappointment, after all. He knows how it feels to get so close to the end, only to lose. "You've all improved since last year. So has Datekou. You're not done improving, though. I'm curious to see where you'll go from here." 

"Thank you," Yahaba says softly, bowing his head. 

Oikawa laughs softly, patting it. "Look, why don't you all go and change? We'll be hanging around for a while longer. We can talk then."

Yahaba isn't surprised when Kyoutani and Iwaizumi end up walking off to talk together. He isn't surprised that Oikawa is waiting for him, either. 

"You know," Oikawa says, sitting down on a bench and patting the space beside him. "You've always had a bad habit of comparing yourself to other setters when you get stressed. I could see you doing it in this game too."

Yahaba frowns. "I wasn't comparing myself to Koganegawa—"

"No," Oikawa shakes his head. "But you knew I was watching. You were comparing yourself to how I'd play, in your situation."

Yahaba lowers his head with a sigh, feeling the back of his neck burning with shame. "You could beat Datekou last year. I don't feel like we can. They were difficult enough last year, but they've gotten better and—"

"Yahaba," Oikawa interrupts. "You've all gotten better too, haven't you? It's just a matter of figuring out how you can keep improving. That's your responsibility, both as the captain and as the setter of your team. I know you can do it."

Yahaba feels his shoulders sag. He isn't as confident about it as Oikawa seems to be, but he knows that he just needs time. This isn't the end of their path, and he knows that. There's still plenty to improve on from here. 

Patting his back, Oikawa hums. "Come on. I know the coaches don't like hanging around for too long after games. You probably have a meeting waiting for you back at school, don't you?"

"Thank you for coming all the way to see us," Yahaba says, getting to his feet. "Sorry that you couldn't see a better match."

"Nonsense." Oikawa pinches Yahaba's cheek. "It was a pleasure seeing my kouhai play hard. I'll be back for the Spring High, okay? No pressure." 

"I'm sure," Yahaba laughs quietly. "Thank you, again."

Oikawa waves him off. "I'm going to go find Iwa-chan. I'm sure he's still with Kyouken-chan. Speaking of, the two of you are getting along much better these days, aren't you?"

"He's not as bad as he used to be," Yahaba concedes. "We've learned to make things work out."

Oikawa's smile seems a little too knowing for Yahaba's liking, and he wants to ask if Matsukawa or Hanamaki have said anything to him, but it's also a conversation that he really doesn't want to have. 

"Did you have a good talk with Iwaizumi-san?" Yahaba asks, when he meets Kyoutani in front of their bus. 

"Yeah," Kyoutani nods. "Gave me a few things to work on. How about you and Oikawa?"

"It was good to speak to him. I'm disappointed— _so_ disappointed—but it's not the end, for any of us." Yahaba looks around the bus, at his tired and upset teammates, and leans back into his seat. "We're going to keep growing. That's all we can really do, from here." 

When their bus pulls into the school, there are a few other teams returning from their tournaments too. Watari has already heard from Ishiguro that the girls' basketball team has lost. They're both getting off their buses at the same time, and Mishima walks over to Yahaba, giving him a sympathetic smile. 

"Losing sucks," she sighs, and he laughs quietly, nodding in agreement. "It's tough being the captain in those situations, huh? You can't show how disappointed you are in front of the rest of your team, because you don't want to discourage them, so you just have to keep it to yourself instead."

"It's tough," Yahaba agrees. He looks over at Watari and Ishiguro, who are hugging each other tightly, and it makes him smile. "It's still good though, watching your team improve and overcome these kinds of things. We'll be ready, by the time the next tournament comes around."

Mishima turns to him, raising an eyebrow. "You sound like a pretty good captain, Yahaba."

"I hope so," he replies seriously. "My team deserves a good captain. I want to do them justice."

They get called away by the coaches, and Yahaba nods at Mishima before leaving. He falls into step with Kyoutani, who gives him a sidelong look.

"You know she likes you," he begins, and Yahaba sighs, shaking his head.

"I'm not trying to encourage that or anything. We were just talking as captains."

"You can't just separate your feelings like that," Kyoutani mutters. "It sounds nice in theory, but it's not that easy. Just be careful, okay? Unless you actually like her, and then I guess we could—"

"Kyoutani," Yahaba interrupts, elbowing him in the side. "You're thinking too hard. It doesn't suit you."

Elbowing him right back, Kyoutani snorts. "Whatever. Just think about it, okay?"

Yahaba honestly doesn't want to, but he nods anyway, just for the way it seems to appease Kyoutani.

 

 

* * *

 

 

The team returns to practice with renewed vigour after their loss, and Yahaba is glad to see it. Everyone is determined to improve by the time that the Spring High rolls around, and while Yahaba is confident that they will, he's far too aware of the fact that Datekou will be using that time to improve as well and, if they get past Datekou this time, Karasuno will have improved too. 

The best thing that they can do right now is to practice against teams that have tall players and good middle blockers. Yahaba knows that there's one easy solution to that. He knows, from the few messages that he and Ogawa have been sending back and forth, that Kenzan hasn't made it past the regional qualifiers for the Interhigh either. 

"Mizoguchi-san," Yahaba says, approaching him after morning practice. "Is there any chance that we could organise more practice matches with Kenzan?"

Mizoguchi raises an eyebrow. "I'd have to ask. You know they're not very close by. It would be difficult to arrange any kind of meet up. I'm not sure what their plans are for training camps."

"Even if it's one day," Yahaba says. "You knew it when you arranged the first practice match for us. They're a good team for us to practice against. That's especially true, after losing to Datekou. There's a lot that we have to work on. If we can play a few matches over the course of one day, I think it would be beneficial to the team."

Mizoguchi hums in thought. "I'll have to speak to Irihata about it. We'll see if we can organise anything. It's good to see you thinking analytically about your loss, though, Yahaba. Good work."

Yahaba smiles, feeling pleased at the praise before he hurries off to change. Kyoutani is waiting for him, raising an eyebrow at Yahaba as he walks in. 

"What were you talking to Mizoguchi about?"

"I asked him to look into organising a practice match for us," Yahaba replies. "We need to practice against teams like Datekou, if we want any hope of beating Datekou at the Spring High."

Suddenly, Kytoauni's shoulders go tense. "You want to play against Kenzan again." 

"They're the best team for us to practice with," Yahaba replies. "I guess there's Kamegawa too, but Kenzan has taller players." 

"Kenzan has _Ogawa_ ," Kyoutani points out. "That's why you want to play against them, isn't it?"

"What?" Yahaba frowns. "I'm not that selfish. Besides, you don't even know if Ogawa's retired anyway."

"You would." Kyoutani is _angry_ , Yahaba realises, and the frustrating part is that he doesn't even know why. "You have his number, don't you? You're going to see him again and it's going to be just like last time."

"Would you stop making this about you?" Yahaba asks, raising his voice, and he's glad that the rest of the team has already changed and left. "If you did, you'd realise that they're the best school for us to play against so we actually learn something new and get somewhere. Instead, you're too focused on the fact that yeah, I think Ogawa's attractive, even though I already told you that I'm not going to do anything about it. I already told you that I'm not going to be obvious about it like last time. You don't have to worry about being humiliated because your _fake_ boyfriend might actually like someone else, okay?"

Kyoutani recoils, scowling at Yahaba. "Fuck you, Yahaba. You have no idea, do you?"

"About what?" Yahaba asks, but Kyoutani just shakes his head, walking out of the club room without a glance backwards.

Kyoutani avoids Yahaba for the rest of the day, not even making eye contact as they pass each other in the halls. He straight out ignores Yahaba's invitations to join him and Watari for lunch, and only acknowledges him at practice when he absolutely needs to.

It's frustrating, because it feels like they're slipping back into old territory, and Yahaba knows they can't afford that right now. They're meant to be growing, not regressing, and he tries to bring it up with Kyoutani on the way home after practice, but he's just shrugged off.

"I don't want to talk about it," Kyoutani mutters, his shoulders hunched. "Let's just take Saorin for a walk, okay? I'm not in the mood to talk."

Yahaba sighs, but he knows better than to push. At the very least, Kyoutani is still letting him come over. Yahaba doesn't want to provoke Kyoutani into a bigger fight and make things even worse while he's trying to fix them.

It's difficult for Kyoutani to be outwardly angry when he's around Saorin, anyway. His entire demeanour softens, he smiles at her, and Yahaba stands back so he can enjoy it, rather than drawing Kyoutani's attention to him. 

They jog together the next morning, and Kyoutani doesn't seem to be as angry any more. Yahaba doesn't ask, in case he accidentally brings it back, and finds himself wishing yet again that he could actually understand what Kyoutani's thinking.

Kyoutani's almost friendly to Yahaba, by the time they get to morning practice, and it changes all over again the moment that Irihata announces that they have a practice match with Kenzan booked in for Saturday. 

Both teams are going to be meeting at a halfway point, to make up for the distance. There's have a gymnasium in Kitakami that they've managed to book for the entire day, and they'll be starting early, to maximise the amount of time both teams have to play against each other.

Kyoutani immediately goes back to looking as irritated as he did yesterday. Yahaba frowns, not bothering to push it just yet. He'll talk to Kyoutani after Saturday, and sort things out then. He knows it's about Ogawa, but the thought of Kyoutani thinking that Yahaba is putting his own crush in front of what the team needs is so insulting that he can't even think of how he's going to talk to Kyoutani about it without the whole thing turning into a fight. If it's going to come to that, then it can at least wait until after they're done playing against Kenzan.

Of course, it's not that simple. 

Kyoutani's mood worsens day by day, and Yahaba's usual small reminders to calm down only seem to annoy him even more. He's so agitated by Saturday that Yahaba just leaves him to sit by himself on the bus to Kitakami, sitting next to Watari instead.

"Is everything alright between you two?" Watari asks in a low voice, giving Kyoutani a concerned look. "You've been fighting for the past few days, haven't you?"

"It's nothing," Yahaba replies, shaking his head. "Kyoutani's just being stupid. I really don't have the patience for him right now."

"Is this about Kenzan?" Watari guesses. "About Ogawa? Is he jealous?"

"He's an _idiot_ ," Yahaba mutters. "Can we just talk about something else?"

Watari gives him a pitying look. "Look, if you want me to talk to him or anything—"

"Thanks for offering, but you don't have to do that," Yahaba interrupts. "Please don't do that. It would be too weird."

Watari laughs, nodding. "Yeah, okay. But the offer's there, if you want it." 

As much as Yahaba appreciates it, he can't imagine what Watari could possibly say. He doesn't think that Kyoutani would be particularly happy with Watari's reassurances that Yahaba likes him more than Ogawa anyway. Their entire fake relationship feels a little weird, and Yahaba doesn't want it to get even weirder by involving other people into it. 

Besides, they just need to make it through one more day. There are some things that Yahaba doesn't think he and Kyoutani can solve without having an actual fight, but at least that way, it'll be behind them and they can move on. He's looking forward to that, at least.

Ogawa is somehow even _more_ attractive that Yahaba remembers, and it's not fair. He tries not to stare, smiling at him as they walk over to each other, shaking hands. 

"Thank you for making the time for us," Yahaba tells him. "I hope the trip wasn't too long, on your end."

"Couldn't have been longer than yours," Ogawa replies. He smiles warmly, looking around at both of their teams. "Let's work together so we can get everything set up as quickly as possible, so we can fit as many games in as we can, okay?"

The first half of their first set is a complete mess. Yahaba knows that it's Kyoutani. The entire team knows that it's Kyoutani, and Yahaba turns to Irihata, who is already calling for a member change. 

"If you don't calm down, you're not going to be sent back out," Yahaba says, stepping into Kyoutani's path before he can walk off the court. "We need you to win, Kyoutani. This isn't about ruining it for anyone else. You're going to end up ruining it for yourself." 

Kyoutani snorts, pushing him aside. "It's Ogawa's turn to serve. Why don't you just stare at him a bit more?"

" _Kyoutani_ ," Yahaba growls, grabbing onto his arm and holding him back. "I don't care who's on the court, on the other side of the net. I just care that you're here, with us. This is _our team_. You said you weren't going anywhere after we lost at the Interhigh preliminaries. Prove it."

He lets Kyoutani go, nodding at Miyamoto, the second year wing spiker that gets swapped in. Kyoutani stands to the side, and Yahaba spares him a glance before focusing on the game again. 

Kyoutani's right; it's Ogawa's turn to serve, but Yahaba doesn't care about anything beyond how well their team is going to receive it. He doesn't have the time to think about Ogawa as anything else than an opponent while they're on the court, and the game was already difficult enough with Kyoutani on the court. It's worse with him gone, and it comes as a relief when he hears the whistle blow for a member change. 

"Better?" Yahaba asks, as Kyoutani walks onto the court.

Kyoutani doesn't look entirely happy when he turns to Yahaba, but he isn't as agitated as he was before. "Let's just win this set."

They do, even though Kenzan wins the next set, and the one after that. It's an improvement, though, and that's what Yahaba wants to see. Their next game is better, and they win the game that they have after their lunch break.

Even so, there's still something off between Yahaba and Kyoutani. He might play well and click with the rest of the team when he's on the court, but he's quick to isolate himself the moment they walk off. He's still avoiding Yahaba, and with Ogawa right there, wanting to catch up with him and share stories from their respective regional tournaments, Yahaba lets Kyoutani sulk if he wants. He'll deal with it later. 

They play until the sun is beginning to set, and both their teams are exhausted, but it's been good for both of them. They've learned to adjust to each other's strengths and weaknesses, and Yahaba has a few ideas of new things that they can work into team practice to continue strengthening their new skills. 

Kyoutani sits alone when they get on the bus, but Yahaba is too tired to care. Everyone ends up sleeping the entire way back, and Yahaba is too exhausted to go after Kyoutani and speak to him once they reach home. Besides, the sky is darkening with clouds, and Yahaba doesn't really want to walk all the way to Kyoutani's house before walking back home, in the rain. 

He'll just leave it for tomorrow, he tells himself, bidding the rest of his team goodbye, eager to go home to eat and rest. Whatever's wrong with Kyoutani, it can wait a day.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Yahaba goes to bed early, already looking forward to sleeping in the next morning as well. He's just about to drift off when his phone buzzes, waking him up. He grabs for it, frowning when he sees that it's Kyoutani. 

His message is simple: _I fucked up._

_You're going to have to be more specific. What did you do?_ Yahaba types out, a little irritated that Kyoutani is disturbing him. It might not be particularly late, but he's exhausted and he doesn't have the time or patience to deal with Kyoutani right now.

_It's Saorin. My parents found her._

Yahaba sits up in his bed. _What????_

_Can I call you?_

Yahaba replies by calling Kyoutani instead. 

"I'm sorry," Kyoutani says immediately as he answers. He sounds genuinely upset. "I fucked up, I'm sorry." 

"Tell me what happened," Yahaba replies, trying to keep his voice as even as possible. "How did they find her?"

"It's raining pretty heavily here," Kyoutani sighs heavily. "I wasn't in the greatest of moods, so I asked Mori-san if I could just keep her in my room for the night. I was just going to keep the door shut so my parents didn't see her, but I didn't even make it that far before she squirmed out of my jacket." 

"Kyoutani," Yahaba sighs, covering his face with a hand. "What did they do?"

"We're keeping her with us tonight," Kyoutani says softly. "I don't think they've decided what to do about her beyond that just yet. They're not letting me see her."

"Did you tell them that I'm responsible for her too?" Yahaba asks. 

"No, I took the blame."

" _Kyoutani_ ," Yahaba says, a little louder this time. "Talk to them. Tell them how we found her and why we kept her. Tell them that I was there with you, it's not just your fault. I'm coming over tomorrow morning. Are your parents going to be home?" 

"Yes, but—" 

"I'm not letting you take the blame for this on your own," Yahaba tells him firmly. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Yeah, okay," Kyoutani replies. "I'm sorry." 

"We'll figure something out," Yahaba says, even though he isn't really sure what they can do. "You're probably tired, after today. Get some sleep, okay?" 

"Yeah." Kyoutani's voice is rough with exhaustion, like he's only just remembered how tired he is. "You too, Yahaba. Good night." 

Hanging up, Yahaba takes a deep breath and gets out of bed. Both his parents are still awake, and he clears his throat as he approaches them. 

"I did something stupid," he tells them, because he doesn't know how else to begin. "With one of my friends. And he's getting in trouble for it and I don't think it's fair, so I'm telling you as well."

Yahaba's parents look up at him, concerned. He takes a deep breath, lowering his gaze to the floor as he continues. "We found an abandoned puppy a while ago, and we didn't just want to leave her, so we thought that we'd keep her instead. I knew we couldn't keep her here, and Kyoutani couldn't keep her because his parents don't want a dog, so we've been asking his neighbour to help us take care of her. She has dogs too, and we walk her every morning, we take her from Mori-san in the afternoons, after practice."

"Kyoutani," his mother repeats, frowning a little. "Is that the friend you're always doing homework with, after practice?"

Yahaba sighs quietly. "Yes. When I go for jogs in the morning, I run to his place, and we walk Saorin—the dog—together before getting ready for school. We saved up for her vet bills. We buy her toys, her food, everything she needs. We didn't make Mori-san take care of any of that, I promise."

His parents exchange a look, and his father clears his throat.

"Do you realise how irresponsible you've been?" he asks, and he doesn't sound angry, but it makes Yahaba's stomach drop anyway. "I think that it's good you both wanted to help the dog, and that you've taken on as much responsibility as you can, but Shigeru, you're both schoolboys. You're seniors, and you're busy with the volleyball club. Kyoutani-kun is in the volleyball club too, isn't he? You might be spending as much time as you can taking care of this dog, but you need to realise that you don't actually have very much time to spare. You've inconvenienced this Mori-san quite a lot. Do you know what's going to happen to the dog?"

Yahaba shakes his head. "Kyoutani's parents only found out about it just then, and he told me. I'm going to go over and speak to his parents tomorrow, because he's shouldering all of the blame himself. I know we can't keep her here, but I don't want to just give her up to a shelter, without the guarantee that she'll get a good life."

"It's good that you're not letting Kyoutani-kun take all the blame himself," Yahaba's mother says. "I think you owe Mori-san an apology, though. When you go to see Kyoutani-kun's parents tomorrow, perhaps you should think of a way that you can make it up to her."

"I'll do that," Yahaba replies, nodding. "You're… not going to punish me?" 

"It's obvious you care about the dog." Yahaba's mother smiles. "I know you meant well. I think you need to be more mindful of how your behaviour affects other people in the future, but I'm glad that you're willing to take responsibility for what you've done. I hope tomorrow morning goes well."

"Yeah," Yahaba runs a hand through his hair tiredly. "So do I."

As exhausted as he is, Yahaba doesn't sleep very well that night. He tosses and turns, and he ends up awake far too early. He groans as he gets out of bed, showering and making breakfast for himself. He checks his phone, but it's no surprise that he hasn't received any new messages from Kyoutani just yet. It's six o'clock in the morning, and it's probably too early to text to see if he's awake. 

He has homework to do, so he makes coffee and takes it into his room, trying to focus on his books. It doesn't work very well for him, but at least it passes time. By the time he's finished struggling through his calculus homework, with plenty of distractions in between, it's eight o'clock and he figures that it's a more reasonable time to at least check that Kyoutani's up. 

Kyoutani's reply is immediate, replying that Yahaba can come over if he wants. Yahaba immediately starts putting his shoes on, telling his parents he's going before running the entire way to Kyoutani's house. It's a familiar path and he tries not to think that it could possibly be his last time coming here. 

He isn't even surprised when he finds Kyoutani standing outside, waiting for him. He has Saorin sitting at his feet, on her leash, and she stands up when she sees him, her tail wagging. 

"Hey," he greets both of them, kneeling down to pat Saorin with a smile, pressing a kiss to the top of her head before he stands again, looking at Kyoutani. "Have your parents decided what they're doing with her yet?"

"I don't think so," Kyoutani replies. "I told them that you wanted to talk to them, so they said that they'll wait for that. No pressure or anything."

Yahaba laughs quietly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Right. Thanks."

Kyoutani's parents are sitting at the dining table, and they both smile at Yahaba as he walks in, bowing in greeting to them. 

"Kentarou tells us that you wanted to speak with us," Kyoutani's father says, and he looks friendly enough. So does Kyoutani's mother, with her hands wrapped around a mug of tea. 

Yahaba takes a deep breath, and drops into a low bow. "I'm sorry for all the trouble that we've caused you because of Saorin. I don't know what Kyoutani's told you, and what he hasn't, but I don't want him solely taking the blame for this, so please let me explain."

It's easier to go through the explanation now that he's already done it once to his own parents. He tries to make it sound like it was more of his idea to keep Saorin, to take the blame off Kyoutani a little, and when he's done, both of Kyoutani's parents are smiling.

"It's obvious that you both care so much for her," Kyoutani's father says. "I'm glad that you've acknowledged how much you've inconvenienced Mori-san. She's incredibly kind, and I can completely believe that she would offer to help you the way she did, but you need to be more mindful of your actions in the future. Both of you."

"What's going to happen to Saorin?" Kyoutani asks, and it's clear that he's been waiting to ask this question for a long time. 

"We'll keep her," Kyoutani's mother says. "It's been a while since we've had a dog. It's clear that you're both too attached to give her away, and I don't want to ask Mori-san to take her. Before we do, though, I want you to make it up to poor Mori-san. You can leave Saorin here for the day, but Kentarou, I want you helping around Mori-san's house, doing her chores for her, to return the favour she's done for you."

"I'll help too," Yahaba declares. "I'll tell my parents, they should be fine with it. I'll do everything I can."

Kyoutani's mother nods. "I'm sure she'll appreciate that. I'm sure Kentarou does, too."

Yahaba and Kyoutani turn to each other with matching grins. Yahaba thinks it's the first time that he's seen Kyoutani smile since they fought about playing against Kenzan. 

"Let's go," Kyoutani says, taking Saorin's collar off and letting her run through the house happily. "We'll play with her after we're done." 

"Yeah." Yahaba follows him outside. "Sounds good to me."

 

 

* * *

 

 

Yahaba and Kyoutani spend all of Sunday helping around at Mori-san's place, and it feels good to be able to get along again. Mori-san is thrilled by the fact that she has help, and has no qualms with setting them to work. Yahaba doesn't mind at all, because it's the least that he can do to make up for all the trouble that they've put her through. Besides, he's in such a good mood about the fact that Saorin can stay with Kyoutani that he doesn't think anything could bring him down at all. 

"I really do appreciate everything you've done to help us," Yahaba tells her, bowing. "I'm sorry that we've caused you trouble. I'll make sure to be more thoughtful from now on."

"It's fine," she tells him, patting him on the head. "I'm always happy to help. I'm glad that Ken-chan has such a good friend, though. I've never seen him invite people over before, and it makes me happy to see you coming over so regularly."

"Mori-san," Kyoutani protests, his ears turning pink. 

Yahaba grins, nudging Kyoutani with his elbow. "Let's get to work, hm?"

They start in her garden, pulling up weeds for her and watering everything, before moving inside. They dust, they vacuum, they mop, and it's probably even more exhausting than volleyball practice. It's satisfying, though, and Yahaba appreciates the time that he gets to spend with Kyoutani. It feels easy and comfortable, in a way that it hasn't for a while. 

Mori-san makes them stop for lunch, and they continue into the early afternoon, until they're satisfied with the work they've done. 

"You're not too tired to take Saorin for a walk, are you?" Kyoutani asks, watching as Yahaba stretches. 

"Not at all," Yahaba grins. "I've been looking forward to it all day. Let's go."

Saorin is excited for her walk, and even with their exhaustion from doing chores around Mori-san's house, both Yahaba and Kyoutani are in such a good mood that they end up taking her for a long walk, beyond the park that they usually stop at. 

"Are you still angry with me?" Yahaba asks, as they walk. "The way you have been for the past few days?"

Kyoutani sighs. "I don't think I can be, when you're not pissed at me for this whole situation with Saorin."

"It worked out in the end," Yahaba shrugs. "Besides, I don't think it works that neatly, as an exchange sort of thing."

Kyoutani rubs a hand over his head, bristling against his short hair. "I don't know. I'm over it."

"Was it about Ogawa?" Yahaba tries.

"Kind of," Kyoutani sighs again. "I don't know, it's complicated. I don't really know where to start. I don't know if I want to."

"You can talk to me, you know," Yahaba tells him. With a grin, he adds, "Like Mori-san said, I'm a good friend. Your only friend, apparently."

"Fuck off," Kyoutani laughs, shoving him. "I have other friends."

"Yeah, but you only have one that you share a dog with," Yahaba returns. "Just because she's staying with you now, doesn't mean I'm not going to come over and visit."

"Good," Kyoutani mumbles. "You can visit more, if you like. You can stay late, now that we don't have to hide her from my parents."

Yahaba smiles even wider, and he thinks Kyoutani's cheeks are turning pink. Before he can ask about it, though, they're interrupted by a familiar voice.

"Yahaba-san? Kyoutani-san?"

They turn, finding Kindaichi standing there, dressed in his running gear. He pulls his earphones out of his ears and gives them a quizzical look. "Are you on a dog-walking date?"

Yahaba and Kyoutani exchange blank looks. There's no point in keeping up the pretence any more, when they're no longer trying to hide Saorin, so Yahaba just shakes his head. "About that. We weren't actually dating. We were just taking care of a dog together, and Watari assumed…"

"Oh." Kindaichi's eyes go wide. " _Oh_. I thought you were—I'm sorry—"

"We had to keep her a secret," Kyoutani speaks up. "So we just let you assume whatever. We don't have to anymore, so whatever. Did we ever actually say we were dating?"

"Not in those words," Kindaichi says slowly, frowning in thought. "It was just—sorry. My bad. Can I pat your dog?"

Saorin is happy with the attention, and Kindaichi is thrilled. He still looks a little confused as he gets back to his running, but he doesn't say anything about it, waving before he leaves.

"Everyone's going to know by tomorrow," Yahaba sighs. "Even if we don't have practice in the morning. Just wait for it."

Surely enough, Yahaba gets to school the next morning to find Watari standing by the gate, waiting for him.

"Yahaba," he says, marching over and grabbing him by the shoulders, shaking him hard. " _What the hell_?"

"Are you talking about—"

"I'm talking about how you—" Watari cuts himself off when he realises there are other students around, and lowers his voice to a hiss, "you weren't really dating Kyoutani at all? This was about a _dog_? What the hell?"

"Saorin," Yahaba replies, taking his phone out and pulling up a photo. "Isn't she cute?"

"Adorable," Watari replies. "Also, apparently so much of a secret that you had to pretend that you were dating Kyoutani instead of just telling me that the two of you were spending time together with a dog? Because that's not overcomplicating things at all."

"You said the entire team thought we were dating because of all the time we spent together," Yahaba points out, shifting uncomfortably. "If we told everyone, we couldn't trust that it wouldn't somehow get back to our parents. We couldn't risk letting her get taken away."

"You don't trust the team," Watari sounds insulted. "You don't trust _me_."

"I trust you," Yahaba sighs. "But we couldn't tell the truth to some people and not others. It would have made things even more complicated. Besides, Kindaichi only found out about this yesterday and you already know. I bet the rest of the team already knows, too. He's a great guy, but he can't keep secrets for the life of him."

"I'm still not happy with you," Watari grumbles, even though his expression softens. "…You do have a point, though. Hey. Does this mean that you're available, though? Because I'm pretty sure Mishima is still interested in you."

"I guess so?" Yahaba hums in thought. "Don't meddle, though."

Watari gives him a cheeky grin, and Yahaba isn't even surprised when Mishima approaches him during their recess break, greeting him with a nervous smile. 

"So, um," she clears her throat as she looks at him. "I like you. I was wondering if you wanted to go out this weekend, on a proper date. You don't have to answer right now, though, okay? Take your time."

With that, she leaves. Yahaba sighs quietly, and wonders if this is Watari's revenge for being lied to. 

He honestly doesn't know how to answer her, though, and he's still dwelling on it when he walks home with Kyoutani that afternoon.

"What's wrong?" Kyoutani asks, giving him a sidelong look.

"Mishima confessed to me, and asked me out on a date," Yahaba tells him. "I don't know what to say."

"Oh," Kyoutani says softly, and they lapse into silence as they keep walking. At length, he clears his throat. "You should say yes. It's just a date, right? And this time you'll actually know that's what it is? Better than wondering what it would be like, I guess. Doesn't mean you have to keep dating her afterwards."

"I guess so," Yahaba nods. 

Kyoutani clears his throat. "Anyway, a bunch of the first years wanted to meet Saorin. I told them that we'll bring Saorin to the park near my place. Is that okay?"

"I told you Kindaichi would tell everyone," Yahaba sighs, but he's smiling. "Yeah. That sounds good to me."

Kunimi, Kindaichi and Watari show up as well, and they're all immediately charmed by Saorin. Yahaba can't help but feel proud about it, and when he glances over at Kyoutani, he knows that they're both feeling it. 

Watari walks over to him with a knowing grin and a raised eyebrow. "I hear that Mishima spoke to you today."

"What are the chances?" Yahaba asks dryly. "I haven't answered her yet."

"Do you know what you're going to say?" 

Yahaba shrugs. "We'll see."

"She's the captain of the basketball team," Watari points out, frowning. "Most guys would be tripping over their own feet to date her."

Yahaba shrugs again, feeling far too conscious about the fact that Kyoutani's close enough to overhear. "I guess."

Luckily, Watari drops it after that. Kyoutani doesn't mention it, until they're walking back to his place together. Saorin, exhausted after playing with so many new people, is napping in Yahaba's arms. 

"Do you like Mishima?"

Yahaba hums in thought. "She's a nice person. I like talking to her."

"Do you like her enough to date her?"

"You're the one who told me I should try it," Yahaba points out. "I don't know. I guess I'm willing to find out. It doesn't have to be something serious anyway, I guess. If it's comfortable spending time with her, then I guess it's not such a bad thing."

Kyoutani falls silent then, like he's lost in thought. They sit in Kyoutani's bedroom, doing their homework while Saorin naps in her new dog bed. It's getting dark by the time Yahaba leaves, and as he's walking out of the door, Kyoutani grabs him by the arm, stopping him.

"Yahaba, I—" 

"Yeah?" Turning around, Yahaba frowns at him. "What's wrong?"

Kyoutani looks a little troubled, and he glances away. "…I'm glad we don't have to keep Saorin a secret any more. I know we thanked Mori-san for her help but—I'm glad you helped too, yeah?" 

Yahaba blinks with surprise. "You're thanking me?"

"It's just nice," Kyoutani mumbles. "Not having to take care of Saorin on my own. Knowing that you care about her just as much."

"Of course I do," Yahaba replies softly. He pats Kyoutani's hand, prompting him to let go. "I'll see you tomorrow morning, okay?"

"Yeah," Kyoutani coughs awkwardly. "See you then."

 

 

* * *

 

 

Yahaba ends up going out with Mishima the following weekend, to a scifi movie and then lunch. She's as easy to talk to as ever, but as much as Yahaba enjoys spending time with her, he just can't see himself dating her. He thought that he would be happy enough just dating someone that he could enjoy his time with, even without any real chemistry, but he realises as he sits across from her that it's not enough. He wants more than that out of a relationship. He wants attraction. He wants some kind of push and pull. 

He doesn't want Mishima. He doesn't really know how to say it to her, though, so he doesn't. He walks her to the station, waving her off, before he heads home. 

It's not until he's halfway there that he realises he's walking to Kyoutani's place instead. 

"Hey," Kyoutani greets him with surprise, opening the door for him. "Didn't expect to see you today."

Yahaba smiles apologetically. "Are you busy?"

"No, you can come in." Kyoutani makes tea for them, and leads the way to his room. Saorin follows them, her tail wagging. 

"I just went on the date with Mishima," Yahaba sighs, leaning back against the edge of Kyoutani's bed. 

"Yeah?" Kyoutani asks, not looking up as Saorin wanders over to him for attention.

"I don't think I like her," he sighs. "I… don't know, I think I kind of hoped that I would. At least enough to date her, but I don't think I enjoyed my time with her the way I'd probably enjoy spending time with other people. It sucks, though. Here I have a girl that _wants_ to date me and instead of just liking her back and pretending I'm normal, I'm just—"

"Pretending you're normal?" Kyoutani asks, raising an eyebrow. "What the hell does that even mean?"

"You know." Yahaba laughs to cover his discomfort. "I could swing either way, but I think I like guys more, and it sucks." 

"You realise who you're talking to, right?" Kyoutani asks. He lowers his voice a little. "You know I'm gay, and you're telling me that _it sucks_?"

"Not for you," Yahaba amends. "Not for anyone else. It just mean that it sucks for me."

"Because it's not convenient?" Kyoutani frowns. "For whatever life you have planned out for yourself when you just fake it until you fit in? It just _sucks_ that you probably spent your entire time with Mishima imagining what it would be like if you were with Ogawa instead?"

"Where does Ogawa even come into this?" Yahaba asks. "I don't even know why you hate him so much, it's not like we're even pretending to be together any more!"

"You're such an idiot," Kyoutani mutters, rubbing his hand over his face. "I don't even know why I like you."

"You're not the easiest person to get along with either," Yahaba snaps. "I thought I could talk to you and maybe figure myself out after that date, but never mind. I'm leaving."

"Yahaba," Kyoutani sighs, reaching out for him, but Yahaba ignores him, patting Saorin before getting to his feet and leaving. 

Just to spite Kyoutani, he texts Mishima and asks if she wants to go out again tomorrow. 

He doesn't realise what a mistake it is until he meets her at the station. She looks pleased, and Yahaba realises that after spending so long trying not to give her the wrong impression, it's exactly what he's done.

He's frustrated at himself for it, especially after promising that he'd be more thoughtful about the consequences of his behaviour. As much as he'd like to blame Kyoutani for it, he knows that the blame is his alone.

Yahaba knows that he has to stop it before it can get out of control. He's had enough of that in his life as it is. He leads the way to a café and waits until they're sitting down before he gives Mishima an apologetic smile.

"I need to say this before I end up getting your hopes up. I'm sorry if I already have."

Mishima leans back in her seat and sighs. "I think I saw this coming."

Yahaba looks up at her. "Did you?"

"Well," she gives him a small smile. "I've liked you for a while, Yahaba. I've been paying attention. Is it because you like someone else?"

Yahaba thinks of Ogawa, of the sense of anticipation before they spend an entire day playing practice matches against Kenzan. "Maybe I do. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked you to come out, just to let you down."

"It's okay. I'm glad you said it to my face, and didn't just text me. Besides, better out here than at school."

Yahaba smiles apologetically. "I guess so. I like talking to you though, Mishima. It would be good if we could stay friends."

"You might have to give me some time," she replies. "I'm disappointed right now. Let me get over that first, okay?"

"Take your time," he nods. "You know where to find me, anyway."

They finish their drinks before parting ways. Yahaba heads home, pausing as he bumps into Kyoutani on his way back from the station. He's walking Saorin, who barks out in greeting, recognising Yahaba before Kyoutani does. 

"Hey," Yahaba greets quietly, and Kyoutani looks away. "I'm sorry about yesterday. I get why upset you. I didn't mean to."

Kyoutani nods. "I know. I probably shouldn't have snapped at you either. I just—have a lot bottled up, I guess."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Yahaba asks, falling into step with Kyoutani. 

"Not really." Kyoutani takes a deep breath, then turns to Yahaba. "Do you want to come over?"

These days, Kyoutani's room feels just as comfortable as his own. When Kyoutani gave him an open invitation to drop by whenever he feels like to see Saorin, Yahaba didn't think that he would use it as much as he does. It's not just about Saorin, though. He's comfortable around Kyoutani. They can do their homework together, they can strategise for games together, or they can just sit in easy silence together. 

They've come a long way together. Yahaba doesn't think that they're done yet. 

Yahaba goes home to change into more comfortable clothes first, before walking over to Kyoutani's house. He has his homework in his backpack, mostly to appease his parents so they don't scold him for spending all of his time playing with Saorin. 

When Yahaba arrives, he can hear the mix of laughter and excited barking from Kyoutani's bedroom. He smiles to himself, letting himself in. Kyoutani's parents must be out, but the door's been left unlocked for him. He toes out of his shoes, making his way to Kyoutani's room.

"I don't know how she still has this much energy after a walk," Yahaba laughs, sitting down and leaning against the edge of Kyoutani's bed.

"She's just in a good mood," Kyoutani replies, smiling as he plays with her.

"I told Mishima I'm not interested in her," Yahaba says, and then immediately wants to cringe at how it sounds so out of place. 

Kyoutani doesn't miss a beat, though. "Yeah?"

"I think she realised that I like someone else," Yahaba hums. "I'm still not sure how."

This time, Kyoutani falters a bit before he replies. "…Is it Ogawa?"

Yahaba looks up at him and blinks, as it only just hits him. 

It's not Ogawa at all. 

He watches Kyoutani playing with his dog— _their_ dog—and realises that when he was with Mishima, thinking about how he'd rather be with someone else he was more comfortable with, who he was more attracted to, he wasn't thinking about Ogawa at all.

[ ](http://fromthefarshore.tumblr.com/post/149757063317/)

It was Kyoutani. He was thinking of Kyoutani.

He'd rather be with Kyoutani.

"Yahaba?" Kyoutani asks, sounding a little gruff. "You're spacing out."

"I…" Yahaba blinks at him. As soon as he puts the thought together, it come spilling out with no finesse, without a second thought. "I like you."

Kyoutani freezes up. "What."

Yahaba's eyes go wide, as he realises what he's just done. It's too late to take it back and this is something that could change everything. It _will_ change everything, in one way or another. 

So far, his track record for thinking things through before saying or doing them has been pretty poor. 

He weighs this one over in his head, though. He has two options; he can run, and put off having to deal with this mess until later, or he can just face it head on. 

Taking a deep breath, he looks up to meet Kyoutani's eyes. "It's you, Kyoutani. I like you."

Kyoutani frowns in confusion. "You like Ogawa."

"I just think he's good looking. I don't actually know him, the way I know you. I know you're determined, and stubborn, and caring, and honest—"

"Yahaba," Kyoutani interrupts softly, and his face is turning red. 

"I like you," Yahaba says again, for the way it makes him turn even redder.

"You can't do this to me," Kyoutani tells him, shaking his head. "You can't just… _out of nowhere_. You're an asshole."

"I just confessed to you, _asshole_ ," Yahaba mutters, but he's grinning. With the way Kyoutani's reacting, and the way he's slowly moving closer, Yahaba thinks that he might just have his answer to how Kyoutani feels in return.

"Listen." Kyoutani's voice is quiet. He sits in front of Yahaba, looking at him intently. "I've liked you since training camp. Since even before we played against Kenzan. Watari was right, you know. I _was_ jealous of Ogawa. From the moment I saw you looking at him. I liked you and it was bad enough _pretending_ to be dating without actually being with you. It was worse that you didn't even notice, because you were looking at him instead." 

"Oh," Yahaba breathes. "I'm sorry." 

"You didn't know," Kyoutani tells him with a lopsided grin. "I'm telling you now, though. I like you, Yahaba." 

"You should date me," Yahaba tells him. "Actually date me. Not for any reason, except the fact that we like each other. That we want to."

"Do you, though?" Kyoutani asks. "You don't want to look for another girl you might like better? For the kind of life you want to have?"

"I'd rather have a boyfriend I really like," Yahaba replies honestly. "Who I know well, who knows me just as well. I'd rather have what's right in front of me, instead of waiting for what could be." 

"Okay," Kyoutani whispers, sounding a little embarrassed. "I get it."

Kneeling up, Yahaba reaches for Kyoutani's hand, taking it into his. "I want to kiss you, Kyoutani."

"Yeah," Kyoutani takes a deep breath. "Me too."

They're both tentative as they press their lips together, brief at first before leaning back in to kiss again, for a little longer this time. Kyoutani's lips are soft, and Yahaba likes the way they feel against his own. 

After a moment, though, Saorin starts pawing at them and whining. They laugh against each other's mouths, pulling apart so they can turn their attention to her for a while. They let their heads rest against each other, and their fingers brush against each other as they stroke through Saorin's fur.

"I bet," Yahaba says slowly, pressing a kiss to Kyoutani's cheek, "we're going to end up confusing the hell out of the rest of the team. I mean, depending on if we tell them. Do you want to? We don't have to, if you'd prefer to keep it private."

Kyoutani shrugs, pulling Yahaba into another kiss. "I don't really think it's any of their business, is it? I don't think we have to make a big announcement about it or anything. They'll eventually figure it out by themselves. It's probably going to surprise them."

Laughing, Yahaba kisses him harder. "Yeah. I bet it's going to be hilarious when they put the pieces together. Whenever that is."

Saorin whines for attention again, and they both laugh as they turn to her again. 

"She's going to have to learn to share," Yahaba murmurs, as he and Kyoutani lean against each other. "I don't think we ever taught her that." 

"We'll get there." Kyoutani pulls Saorin onto his lap, scratching behind her ears while Yahaba rubs under her chin. "Even if we kind of spoil her." 

" _Kind of_ ," Yahaba repeats, raising an eyebrow with a grin. 

"A lot," Kyoutani amends. "But hey, you're just as bad and you know it."

"I'm still the better dog dad."

"Dog dad?" Kyoutani laughs. "Why are you so…"

"So…?"

"You're cute," Kyoutani mutters. "And I'm giving Saorin her bone so I can make out with you while she's distracted." 

"See? You totally spoil her the most," Yahaba laughs, and it probably doesn't cover up his nerves as much as he hopes it does, but it doesn't matter, because he can tell that Kyoutani's a little nervous too. "Well, hurry up."

"Right," Kyoutani nods, pressing another firm kiss to Yahaba's lips before he gets up. "I'll be right back." 

Leaning back against the edge of Kyoutani's bed, Yahaba takes a deep breath and waits. This is new territory for him—he's sure that it is for both of hem—but he isn't going to let that scare him away. 

They've already come a long way together this year. Yahaba knows that they can figure this out too.

 

 

* * *

 

 

As it turns out, no one on the team is even remotely surprised. 

It's not that Yahaba or Kyoutani even make a big deal of it; they show up to practice on Tuesday morning together, but that's just what they always do. Yahaba doesn't think they're acting any different to how they always do, but Watari takes one look at them and smiles knowingly.

"What?" Yahaba asks. There are a few other teammates who have arrived early, and they're all looking over. Yahaba is glad that it's just a handful, and not the entire club.

"I'm glad you've sorted yourselves out," Watari says with a nod, and that's all he says on the matter.

None of the others look surprised either, Yahaba realises, and he blinks at them before shrugging it off, starting on his warm-up stretches. It's a lot less nerve-wracking doing this for a second time, but Yahaba feels more invested in his teammates' reactions because it's real now. Knowing that they truly don't mind the fact that he and Kyoutani are dating is a massive weight off his shoulders.

"You okay?" Kyoutani asks, sitting down beside Yahaba and stretching as well. 

"Yeah," Yahaba replies. "You?"

Kyoutani gives him a smile, and it's one that Yahaba is still new to, soft around the edges and undeniably fond. "Yeah. I'm good."

Yahaba looks up to find Watari shakes his head at them both with a small smile. Biting back one of his own, Yahaba looks away, getting through the rest of his stretches before leading the way over to one of the empty courts, so he and Kyoutani can practice their serves.

Kyoutani's serve is already powerful enough in its own right, and Yahaba might be getting better at the placement of his own serves, but he's come to realise that he needs more than that. If he can work on adding some more power to his jump serve by the Spring High, he might be able to give their team an extra edge. Showing up to their next tournament without anything new up their sleeves isn't going to do them any favours. Their reserves are becoming much stronger players, and they'll be ready to be switched in at opportune moments to change the flow of the game, but that's not going to be enough. 

He blinks with surprise as Kindaichi steps up behind him, ready to practice serving as well. "Kindaichi?"

"This is a good idea," Kindaichi replies, nodding towards the court in front of them. "We'll win points through serves that they can't return, and keep the momentum on our side. The other teams will probably be expecting Kyoutani's serves to be strong because they've already seen him making them. If we surprise them with _both_ of our serves getting stronger…"

Yahaba grins, patting him on the back. "I like the way you think."

This, Yahaba thinks to himself, is his favourite thing about his team. No matter what they come up against, no matter how many times they're defeated, they don't stop trying. They believe in their strengths, but more than that, they know that there's always room to grow. They never stop seeking to make themselves even better than they already are.

They still have some time until the Spring High and Yahaba is confident that by the time it comes around, the entire team will have grown even more. Looking at where he is now, looking at Kyoutani, Yahaba knows that he wouldn't have been able to predict any of this a year ago. He can't help but wonder what else the future has to bring.

"Hey," Kyoutani says quietly, pulling him out of his thoughts. "You were zoning out."

Blinking, Yahaba gives Kyoutani an embarrassed smile. "Yeah. Sorry. I was just thinking about the team. How far we've come, and how far we'll continue to go. We've done well."

"We have," Kyoutani agrees, nudging Yahaba's side with a grin. "Good job, Captain."

"Are you flirting with each other?" Watari calls out, and they both quickly step away from each other, their faces going red. Watari laughs, walking over to them. "Sorry. You're just so bad at being subtle about it that I couldn't help it. I thought it was pretty obvious that you liked each other before, but that's nothing compared to this."

"What do you mean by that?" Yahaba asks with a frown.

"You were convincing enough as a couple back when you were just pretending. Even though you weren't actually pretending anything. You weren't going out of your way to do it, from what I can tell." Watari shrugs. "Why do you think that absolutely no one is surprised that you ended up realising that you actually like each other after all?"

Laughing with embarrassment, Yahaba turns to Kyoutani, who clearly doesn't care that they're not the only ones in the gymnasium. With the way he's smiling at Yahaba, they might as well be. 

Yahaba has no hope of holding back his own grin. He takes Kyoutani's hand into his own, knowing that he can't make it look as casual as Hanamaki and Matsukawa used to, but he doesn't care about that.

He isn't Hanamaki, or Matsukawa, and he isn't Oikawa either, or anything else, except for him.

That's enough for him, Yahaba thinks to himself as he squeezes Kyoutani's hand gently. The progress he's made is his, just the same as the rest of his growth will be. It's taken him a while to get here, but Yahaba finally feels confident that he doesn't need to be anything different than what he already is. 

He's enough.


End file.
